Bows  and  A 

By 

SAXTON  T. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/studyofbowsarrow01pope 


A STUDY  OF 
BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


SAXTON  T.  POPE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  PRESS 
BERKELEY,  CALIFORNIA 


University  op  California  Press 
Berkeley,  California 


Cambridge  University  Press 
London,  England 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


3 i 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 


PRELIMINAEY  CONSIDERATIONS ' 3 

Bows 3 

Arrows 5 

Flight  shooting 6 

Bows 8 

Bows  CHIEFLY  FROM  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 8 

Jessop  bows 16 

Bows  FROM  THE  AMERICAN  MuSEUM  OP  NATURAL  HiSTORY 20 

Tartar  bows 23 

Japanese  bows 27 

Negrito  bow 28 

Polynesian  bow 29 

Replicas  of  ancient  bows 30 

An  experiment  on  bow  strings 35 

Experimental  data  on  bow  wood 36 

Arrows 40 

Penetration  of  arrows 40 

Velocity  of  arrows 41 

Striking  force  of  arrows 42 

Characteristic  features  op  arrows 44 

Experiments  in  rigidity  of  arrows 44 

Arrow  feathers 46 

Experiment  in  arrow  rotation 49 

Different  arrowheads  and  their  penetration 60 

Comparative  penetration  of  steel  and  obsidian  heads 55 

Penetration  op  the  bodkin  point 56 

Penetration  op  hunting  arrows 58 

The  flight  op  aboriginal  arrows 59 

Comparison  of  arrows 60 

Comparison  of  arrows  and  bullets 61 

Conclusions 62 

Explanations  of  plates 64 


M-ifa  A 


PLATES 


PAGE 

Plate  1.  An  OLD  PAINTING  OF  St.  Sebastian 65 

Plate  2.  Bows  used  in  the  tests 67 

Plate  3.  Bows  used  in  the  tests 69 

Plate  4.  Bows  and  arrows  from  the  Jessop  collection 71 

Plate  5.  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  bows 73 

Plate  6.  Tartar  bows 75 

Plate  7.  Japanese  archer  and  bow 77 

Plate  8.  Negrito,  Cliff  dweller,  and  Wintun  bows  and  arrows 79 

Plate  9.  Replicas  of  Turkish  composite  and  English  bows 81 

Plate  10.  Arrows  used  in  the  tests 83 

Plate  11.  Aboriginal  arrows  in  the  University  Museum  of  Anthro- 
pology  85 

Plate  12.  Various  arrows 87 

Plate  13.  Arrowheads  used  in  penetration  tests 89 

Plate  14.  Ancient  Syrian  arrowheads 91 

Plate  15.  Arrows  penetrating  a fir  board 93 

Plate  16.  Skull  pierced  through  the  orbit  by  an  arrow 95 

Plate  17.  Arrow  shot  through  a coat  of  m.-^il 97 

Plate  18.  Penetration  of  arrows 99 

Plate  19.  Penetration  of  arrows 101 

Plate  20.  Penetration  of  obsidian  in  bone 103 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


BY 

SAXTON  T.  POPE 


A contest  of  strength,  between  peoples  will  always 
interest  human  beings;  rivalry  in  the  arms  and  imple- 
ments of  war  is  one  of  the  fascinations  of  national  com- 
petition. It  is  therefore  a matter  of  interest  both  to  the 
anthropologist  and  the  practical  archer  to  know  what  is 
the  actual  casting  quality  and  strength  of  the  best  speci- 
mens of  bows  of  different  aboriginal  tribes  and  nations 
of  the  world.  And,  as  further  incentive  to  this  study, 
is  the  rapid  disappearance  of  archery  as  civilization 
advances. 

In  the  following  experiments  a detailed  test  of  the 
shooting  quality  of  a series  of  bows  was  undertaken,  and 
with  it  certain  correlated  experiments  concerning  the 
penetration  of  arrows.  Most  of  these  bows  were  selected 
from  hundreds  in  possession  of  the  Museum  of  Anthro- 
pology of  the  University  of  California.  They  are  the 
best  preserved  and  strongest  specimens  in  that  large  col- 
lection. In  no  instance  is  it  apparent  that  age  has  led 
to  deterioration  in  their  strength.  In  fact,  the  greatest 
modem  flight  shot — four  hundred  and  fifty-nine  yards — 
has  recently  been  made  by  Ingo  Simon  at  La  Tourque, 
France,  with  a Turkish  composite  bow  reported  to  be 


ivH-a  F\ 


2 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


nearly  two  hundred  years  old/  Age  increases  the  brittle- 
ness, resiliency,  and  casting  power  of  a wooden  how  up 
to  the  point  where  fragility  renders  it  unsafe  to  shoot. 
In  all  our  tests  we  broke  only  two  bows : a specimen  from 
the  Yukon,  and  an  Osage  Indian  bow.  To  insure  that  no 
personal  element  of  muscular  weakness  entered  into  the 
problem  of  the  casting  power  of  these  weapons  I had 
them  shot  by  an  old  and  experienced  archer,  Mr.  W.  J. 
Compton,  a very  powerful  man  and  one  accustomed  to 
shoot  the  bow  for  more  than  thirty  years.  I also  was 
able  to  draw  the  strongest  of  these  hows,  and  myself 
checked  up  the  results. 

1 Archers’  Eegister,  1914. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


3 


PRELIMINAEY  CONSIDERATIONS 

BOWS— 

The  anatomy  of  a how:  The  length  usually  is  meas- 
ured from  the  two  opposite  points  of  attachment  of  the 
string  or  between  nocks.  The  nocks  are  the  depressions 
or  notches  which  serve  to  hold  the  string  from  slipping. 
The  space  occupied  by  the  hand  in  holding  the  how  is 
termed  the  handgrip  or  handle.  The  regions  between  the 
handgrip  and  the  nocks  are  termed  the  limbs.  The  back 
of  the  bow  is  its  convex  side  when  strung.  The  concave 
side  is  called  the  belly.  A bow  which,  when  unstrung, 
reverses  its  curve,  is  called  reflexed,  while  one  which 
maintains  a certain  amount  of  curvature  is  said  to  follow 
the  string.  Setting  the  string  tight  on  a bow  is  termed 
“bracing  it.’’ 

The  capacity  of  a bow  to  throw  an  arrow  a given 
distance  may  be  taken  as  a criterion  of  its  value  as  a 
weapon,  wherewith  to  do  damage,  either  in  the  chase  or 
in  conflict.  The  weight  and  velocity  of  the  missile  are  its 
chief  characteristics,  whether  it  be  a stone,  a bullet,  or 
an  arrow. 

Besides  the  cast  of  a bow,  there  are  other  factors  that 
bear  directly  upon  its  function,  namely:  material,  size, 
strength,  quality  of  recoil  or  action. 

The  material  used  in  the  construction  of  a bow  is 
dictated,  as  a rule,  by  circumstances  and  environment. 
A great  deal  depends  upon  whether  a how  is  made  of  a 
simple  wooden  stave,  a combination  of  wood  and  bone, 
or  of  wood,  horn,  sinew,  and  glue.  All  of  these  react 


4 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


differently  to  heat  and  moisture:  an  elaborate  composite 
bow  would  quickly  lose  its  utility  in  a damp  climate;  a 
simple  wooden  stave  also  becomes  flaccid  in  extremely 
hot  weather. 

Size. — On  horseback,  or  bunting  in  brushy  country, 
a short  bow  is  more  convenient  to  use:  Indian,  Persian, 
and  Turkish  bows  bear  witness  to  this  fact.  The  ancient 
English  archer  could  use  a longbow  because  be  was  a 
foot  soldier. 

The  strength  of  a bow  is  determined  by  the  strength 
of  the  man  and  the  purpose  of  the  weapon.  Most  Ameri- 
can Indian  bows  now  extant  seem  constructed  entirely 
for  bunting  small  game,  and  consequently  do  not  demand 
great  power.  But  in  days  gone  by,  the  object  of  every 
archer  was  in  time  of  war  to  deal  as  powerful  a blow,  at 
as  great  a distance,  as  possible. 

Men  of  different  nations  do  not  differ  greatly  in 
strength.  A bow  may  pull  or  “weigh”  a great  deal  yet 
not  have  corresponding  resiliency  and  lack  a cast  propor- 
tionate to  its  resistance.  This  would  then  be  called  a bow 
of  dull  cast,  and  one  of  active  recoil  and  quick  response 
would  be  called  quick  or  lively,  or  brilliant  in  cast. 

Because  of  lack  of  proper  balance  or  distribution  of 
action  in  the  arc  of  a bow,  it  may  recoil  so  unevenly  as 
to  jar  the  band,  or  kick  in  the  grasp,  or  be  unpleasant  to 
use.  This  sort  of  bow  militates  against  accurate  shooting 
and  would  be  called  a “harsh  bow,”  while  a bow  well 
balanced  and  pleasant  to  shoot  has  been  called  soft,  or  a 
“sweet  bow.” 

The  amount  of  force  necessary  to  draw  a bow  is  called 
the  weight  of  a bow.  Apparently  the  Chinese  were 
the  first  people  to  classify  bows  according  to  weight 
standards.  The  first  reference  to  weights  in  England 
seems  to  date  from  the  renaissance  of  archery,  about 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


5 


1798.  The  method  of  estimating  the  strength  of  a bow 
was  either  to  suspend  weights  to  the  string  until  the 
arrow  length  was  drawn,  or  to  use  a steelyard  attached 
to  the  string  while  full  drawn.  By  fixing  the  bow  in  a 
vise,  hooking  a spring  scale  to  the  string,  and  drawing 
it  28  inches  away  from  the  back  of  the  bow,  we  get  from 
the  scale  the  amount  of  pull  necessary  to  draw  a standard 
English  arrow  to  the  head. 

AEEOWS— 

The  arrows  used  on  a bow  are  of  course  of  great 
importance  in  flight  shots.  The  average  native  arrow  is 
a crude  contrivance  and  is  illy  calculated  to  fly  far  or 
straight.  Some,  such  as  certain  of  the  Yaqui  ones,  are 
of  the  most  primitive  types,  being  heavy,  unfeathered, 
crooked,  and  rough  in  the  extreme.  These  are  doubtless 
most  effective  at  short  distances  where  accuracy  of  flight 
is  not  a desideratum. 

The  best  type  of  arrow  which  has  come  under  my 
observation  is  undoubtedly  that  made  by  Ishi,  the  Cali- 
fornia Yahi  Indian.  In  flight  shooting  we  have  tried 
several  hundred  arrows  of  various  kinds,  including  some 
of  the  best  English  make.  Two  shafts  made  by  Ishi  of 
bamboo,  having  a birch  fore-shaft  and  very  low-cropped 
feathers,  have  repeatedly  proved  themselves  the  best 
flyers.  They  will  carry  10  per  cent  farther  than  the  best 
English  flight  arrow,  and  20  per  cent  farther  than  the 
standard  target  arrow  weighing  435  grains.  These  bam- 
boo flight  arrows,  therefore,  have  been  used  in  all  our 
tests  (see  pi.  10).  One  is  29  inches  in  length,  the  other 
25  inches.  The  former  weighs  310  grains,  the  latter  200 
grains.  They  are  feathered  with  soft  turkey  feathers, 
clipped  as  close  as  is  compatible  with  steering  require- 
ments. 


6 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  average  archer  cannot  draw 
more  than  a 29-inch  arrow.  Even  the  historical  cloth- 
yard  shaft  was  a Flemish  yard,  or  only  27i/^  inches,  and 
was  the  usual  length  arrow.  The  anatomical  construc- 
tion of  man  renders  him  incapable  of  exerting  his  great- 
est strength  when  the  extended  left  arm  and  the  flexed 
right  arm  are  separated  a greater  distance  than  this — 

29  to  30  inches.  He  simply  cannot  draw  the  string  of  a 
powerful  bow  past  his  cheek.  This  limit  is  well  within 

30  inches.  That  it  is  possible  to  draw  a weak  or  even  a 
moderately  strong  bow  over  30  inches,  even  up  to  36 
inches,  will  be  shown  later. 

The  average  Indian  bow,  however,  is  obviously  con- 
structed to  draw  less  than  28  inches.  This  fact,  and  a 
study  of  their  arrows  and  the  bending  capacity  of  their 
bows,  will  convince  any  archer  that  25  or  26  inches  is 
the  average  draw  of  most  natives.  Wherever  possible, 
therefore,  we  shot  the  longer  arrows  on  the  tested  bows, 
drawing  them  till  a sense  of  resistance  warned  of  im- 
pending fracture  of  the  bow,  then  released.  In  the  very 
short  bows  we  shot  only  the  short  arrow.  All  bows  were 
shot  repeatedly,  at  least  six  times,  over  the  same  ground 
on  calm  days.  The  distance  was  measured  with  a tape 
and  marked  off  into  ten-yard  sections. 

FLIGHT  SHOOTING— 

The  attempt  in  every  test  was  to  get  out  of  the  bow 
all  the  cast  that  was  in  it.  No  implement  was  spared  out 
of  respect  for  its  age  or  apparent  infirmity. 

The  methods  of  shooting  were  of  two  tj-pes.  Mr. 
Compton  shot  with  a Sioux  release : all  fingers  and  thumb 
on  the  string,  the  nock  of  the  arrow  steadied  between  the 
thumb  and  forefinger,  the  arrow  discharged  from  the 
left  of  the  bow.  This  would  be  classified  by  Morse  as  a 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


7 


tertiary  type.  I shot  with  the  English  release,  or  Medi- 
terranean type.  There  was  no  apparent  difference  in  the 
cast  of  the  bows  dependent  upon  these  conditions. 

The  elevation  at  which  each  arrow  was  projected  was 
approximately  45°  from  the  horizontal.  A quick  release 
was  given  each  upon  full  draw.  This  insures  greatest 
velocity.  The  bow  arm  was  held  very  rigidly,  and  in 
some  instances  a forward  thrust  was  given  with  the  bow 
arm  at  the  moment  of  discharging  the  arrow,  though  no 
apparent  gain  accrued  from  this  act.  In  measuring  the 
flight,  the  greatest  distance  was  recorded  as  the  full 
capacity  of  each  bow. 

The  bows  tested  are  listed  below  in  the  order  in  which 
they  appear  in  plates  2 to  9. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


BOWS 

BOWS  CHIEFLY  FEOM  THE  UNIVEESITY  OF  CALIFOENIA— 

Igorot  how  (pi.  2,  fig.  1).  A simple  stave  of  split 
bamboo ; cross-section  a flat  parallelogram.  It  is  straight 
when  unstrung;  the  convex  or  bark  side  is  the  back  of 
the  bow.  The  length  is  6II/2  inches ; diameters : at  center, 
1%  by  %,  circumferance,  3 inches;  at  mid-limb,  1 by  %, 
circumference,  2%  inches;  at  nock,  by  %,  circumfer- 
ence, 2%  inches.  It  has  bilateral  nocks,  simple  cuts  in  the 
wood  1 inch  from  the  ends.  It  balances  at  the  center,  has 
no  wrapping  at  handgrip  or  elsewhere;  shows  signs  of 
use.  The  wood  is  in  good  preservation.  The  string  is 
made  of  three  strands  of  manila  fiber  with  a left-hand 
rope  twist,  has  a slip  knot  at  the  top,  and  a series  of  half- 
hitches with  12  inches  of  excess  string  at  the  bottom 
nock.  It  has  a soft  draw  and  bends  in  a symmetrical 
arc.  It  jars  a little  in  the  hand,  is  flabby  in  the  cast,  but 
is  easy  to  shoot.  It  pulls  26  pounds  with  an  arrow  drawn 
28  inches  and  shoots  100  yards. 

Mohave  how  (pi.  2,  fig.  2).  A simple  stave  of  willow, 
having  a permanent  bent  position  follomng  the  string; 
has  stubby  bilateral  nocks.  Length,  67  inches ; diameter : 
at  center,  1%  by  1 inch,  circmnference,  4 inches;  at  mid- 
limb, li/s  by  %,  circumference,  3i/^  inches ; at  nock,  % by 
%,  circumference,  21/2  inches.  A cross-section  is  a rough 
quadrilateral.  The  string  is  of  sinew,  two  strands,  vith 
a left-hand  twist,  bound  permanently  with  many  wrap- 
pings and  half -hitches  at  the  nocks. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


9 


The  distance  between  the  string  and  the  center  of  the 
bow  is  41/4  inches.  It  balances  in  the  center.  There  is 
some  thin  inner  bark  left  on  the  back ; the  wood  is  either 
stained  a dark  color  or  has  been  smoked.  There  are  no 
wrappings  or  decorations  on  it.  It  shows  signs  of  use 
and  is  in  good  condition.  It  has  a weak  draw  and  a flabby 
cast,  and  jars  in  the  hand.  Shooting  a 28-inch  arrow,  it 
pulls  40  pounds,  and  has  a cast  of  110  yards. 

Paraguay  how  (pi.  2,  fig.  3).  A heavy,  crooked  how, 
apparently  of  ironwood;  follows  the  string  badly;  is 
almost  oval  on  cross-section ; its  limbs  are  tapered 
sharply,  terminating  in  no  appreciable  nocks;  only  a 
slight  shoulder  at  the  upper  end;  shows  signs  of  much 
use,  is  burnished  at  the  center  by  handling;  shows  old 
dry  blood  stains ; has  a heavy  rope  for  a string,  %6  inch 
in  diameter,  apparently  hemp  or  commercial  clothesline. 
This  string  is  fastened  by  a slipknot  at  one  nock  and 
hound  with  wrappings  and  half -hitches  at  the  other,  with 
2 feet  excess  string  wrapped  about  the  upper  limb.  The 
distance  between  the  string  and  the  center  of  bow  is  5 
inches.  Apparently  it  is  kept  permanently  braced  or 
strung.  Length,  71  inches;  diameters:  at  handle,  ll^ 
by  1,  circumference,  3%  inches;  at  mid-limb,  1^  by 
circumference,  314  inches;  near  nock,  %6  by  %,  circum- 
ference, 1%  inches. 

It  is  a stubborn,  strong,  inflexible,  quick-casting  bow; 
very  unpleasant  to  shoot,  twisting  in  the  hand  and  kick- 
ing when  released.  It  has  a 25-inch  draw,  past  which  it 
refuses  to  bend ; it  pulls  or  weighs  60  pounds,  and  has  a 
cast  of  170  yards. 

Because  the  wood  of  this  bow  seemed  so  resilient,  an 
experiment  was  undertaken  to  improve  its  cast.  By  heat- 
ing the  wood  the  lateral  deviations  were  straightened. 
The  wood  was  planed  off  the  limbs  so  that  a gradual 


10 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


taper  was  attained,  and  the  bend  was  distributed  through- 
out the  limb  instead  of  being  limited  to  the  extreme  ends. 
Its  length  was  reduced  to  5 feet  7 inches,  horn  nocks  of 
the  English  type  put  on,  and  a linen  string  applied.  The 
altered  weapon  became  an  excellent  bow,  bending  with 
a fine  symmetrical  curve,  quick  in  its  action  and  very 
powerful. 

As  it  stands  now,  when  drawn  28  inches,  the  bow  pulls 
85  pounds  and  casts  the  Ishi  flight  arrow  265  yards. 
With  a specially  made  bamboo  flight  arrow,  a lighter 
replica  of  Ishi’s  but  having  greatly  reduced  feathers,  this 
bow  shot  a flight  of  276  yards.  This  demonstrates  what 
intelligence  can  do  in  the  howyer’s  art. 

English  longhow,  hunting  type  (pi.  2,  fig.  4).  Prop- 
erty of  S.  T.  Pope.  Made  of  Oregon  yew;  spliced  in  the 
center;  woollen  braid  handgrip;  aluminum  nocks;  is 
straight  and  true  and  follows  the  string  slightly  when 
unbraced.  Thin  layer  of  sapwood  left  at  back;  cross- 
section  almost  semicircular  on  the  belly  and  flat  on  the 
back.  Well  balanced,  even  draw,  resilient  cast,  no  kick 
in  hand.  String  made  of  65  strands  of  Irish  linen,  num- 
ber 12,  waxed  and  shellacked ; served  with  silk  at  nocking 
point,  reinforced  with  linen,  spliced  in  loops,  and  covered 
with  kid  at  nocks.  Length  of  bow,  nock  to  nock,  5 feet 
8 inches ; diameters : at  handle,  li/4  by  ll^,  circumference, 
4 inches;  at  mid-limb,  1%  by  yg,  circumference, 
inches ; at  nock,  % by  circumference  2 inches.  When 
drawn  28  inches  it  pulls  75  pounds  and  casts  250  yards. 
This  is  a typical  old  English  longbow  and  will  he  referred 
to  later  in  the  tests. 

Athabascan  bow,  from  near  Fort  Yukon  (pi.  2,  fig.  5). 
A straight,  stiff  bow  apparently  of  Canadian  birch,  hav- 
ing two  lateral  nocks  % inch  from  each  end.  The  cross- 
section  is  a flat  oval.  There  is  a piece  of  wood  lashed  to 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


11 


the  bow  below  its  center,  which  stands  perpendicularly 
to  the  belly  and  is  3 inches  long-  by  1 inch  wide  and 
% inch  thick.  This  acts  as  a rest  for  the  string  and  pre- 
vents it  from  coming  in  contact  with  the  belly  of  the  bow. 
Length  of  bow,  68  inches ; diameters : at  handle,  li/o  by  1, 
circumference,  4 inches;  at  mid-limb,  1%  by  %,  circum- 
ference, inches ; and  below  the  nocks,  1 by  circum- 
ference, 2%  inches.  The  string  is  made  of  three  strands 
of  sinews  with  a right-hand  twist  and  is  very  rough,  fin- 
ished with  a slipknot  at  the  top  and  by  half -hitches  below. 
When  braced  the  string  stands  3 inches  from  the  bow  and 
gives  a high-pitched  musical  note.  There  is  no  binding 
at  the  handgrip  and  the  bow  shows  evidence  of  use.  In 
action  it  is  very  brash,  harsh,  and  stubborn,  twists  in 
the  hand  when  fully  drawn,  is  quick  of  cast,  and  very 
unpleasant  to  shoot.  When  drawn  25  inches  it  pulls 
60  pounds  and  gives  a cast  of  125  yards. 

Luiseno  how  (pi.  2,  fig.  6).  A simple  stave  of  willow, 
apparently  a rabbit  bow,  with  red  bands  of  paint  running 
around  it.  It  shows  signs  of  use.  The  top  of  the  painted 
handle  is  1 inch  above  the  center.  It  has  short  bilateral 
nocks  and  is  warped  out  of  a straight  line,  permanently 
bent,  and  follows  a string  badly.  It  has  a two-strand 
sinew  string  with  a left-hand  twist.  The  upper  loop 
is  a fast  bowknot;  the  lower  is  fastened  by  half -hitches, 
and  the  string  is  % of  an  inch  in  diameter.  Total  length 
of  the  bow,  551/^  inches ; diameters : at  handle, 
by  %,  circumference,  31/2  inches ; at  mid-limb,  II/2  by  %, 
circumference,  3i/4  inches;  below  the  nocks,  1 by  2,  cir- 
cumference, 2^/2  inches.  On  cross-section  this  bow  is  a 
flattened  oval.  It  is  very  soft  on  the  draw,  jarring  in 
the  recoil,  weak  in  the  cast,  and  is  a very  poor  weapon. 
When  drawn  26  inches  it  weighs  48  pounds  and  casts 
120  yards. 


12 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  AKROWS 


Navaho  how  (pi.  3,  fig,  7).  A well  make  bow  of  mes- 
quite  wood,  backed  with  sinew,  having  a buckskin  hand- 
grip 51/2  inches  in  width  and  sinew  wrappings  at  the 
tips,  running  6 inches  down  from  the  nocks.  Total  length, 
44  inches ; diameters : at  handle,  1 by  %,  circumference, 
3 inches ; at  mid-limb,  % by  %,  circumference,  2%  inches ; 
below  the  nocks,  % by  l/o?  circumference,  2 inches.  On 
cross-section  it  is  convex  on  the  back  and  flattened  on 
the  belly,  with  the  bark  side  toward  the  back.  The  string 
is  two  strands  of  twisted  sinew,  left  twist,  % of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  having  a fixed  loop  at  the  upper  nock  and 
half-hitches  at  the  lower,  where  a buckskin  lash  ter- 
minates the  string'  The  bow  is  fairly  straight  along  the 
back  but  follows  the  string  when  unbraced.  This  bow 
shows  good  workmanship,  is  stiff  and  quick  in  action, 
with  no  jarring  in  the  hand.  The  handgrip  is  practically 
in  the  center  of  the  how  and  the  limbs  bend  equally.  The 
string  gives  a good  musical  hum  and  is  4^/2  inches  from 
the  bow  when  strung.  The  weapon  shows  signs  of  use. 
When  pulled  to  26  inches  it  weighs  45  pounds  and  shoots 
150  yards, 

Yurok  bow  (pi.  3,  fig.  8).  A flat  sinew-backed  bow, 
very  well  made  of  a good  grade  of  yew  wood,  apparently 
from  a limb;  sapwood  shows  on  the  edges.  Thick  sinew 
covers  the  back  and  extends  up  over  the  nocks  which  are 
bent  in  a reverse  position,  A circular  band  of  sinew  runs 
about  each  nock  1 inch  back  of  the  extremity  of  the  bow. 
When  unstrung  this  bow  is  markedly  reflexed  and  has  a 
handgrip  of  spirally  wound  buckskin  thong.  The  hand- 
grip itself  is  41/2  inches  mde.  Length  of  bow,  54  inches ; 
diameters:  at  handle,  1%  by  1/2,  circumference,  4 inches; 
at  mid-limb,  21/2  by  %,  circumference,  5 inches ; below  the 
nocks,  1 by  %,  circumference,  2 inches.  On  cross-section 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


13 


it  is  a very  flat  ellipse.  The  string  is  composed  of  two 
strands  of  sinew,  is  % of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  fixed 
at  the  upper  limb  by  a permanent  loop  and  at  the  lower 
by  half -hitches.  In  action  this  bow  is  soft,  springy,  bends 
in  the  hand,  is  flabby  in  cast,  and  kicks.  When  drawn 
28  inches  it  weighs  30  pounds  and  casts  140  yards. 

Alaskan  bow,  probably  Eskimo  (pi.  3,  fig.  9).  , A well 
made,  powerful  bow  of  the  elementary  composite  type. 
The  wood  is  Douglas  fir,  a square-cut,  straight-grained 
piece  such  as  we  commonly  see  in  a building  joist.  It  is 
backed  with  a strip  of  bone  22  inches  long,  1/4  inch  wide, 
and  1/4  inch  thick.  This  is  lashed  in  position  with  twisted 
sinew  arranged  in  an  ingenious  network,  constituting  a 
continuous  backing  from  nock  to  nock,  with  circular  bind- 
ings about  the  limbs  at  intervals  of  an  inch.  On  cross- 
section  the  wood  is  flat  on  the  back  with  beveled  flat  slop- 
ing surfaces  on  the  belly.  Length,  56  inches ; diameters : 
at  handgrip,  by  %,  circumference  5 inches;  at  nock 
1 by  %,  circumference,  3i/4  inches.  It  has  short  bilateral 
nocks,  a thick  sinew  composed  of  many  twisted  strands, 
and  served  loops  at  the  ends.  The  upper  end  of  the 
string  has  an  extension  loop  to  keep  it  in  position  when 
the  bow  is  unbraced.  There  is  serving  of  some  weed-like 
material  on  the  string  at  the  center. 

This  is  the  first  aboriginal  bowstring  under  our  obser- 
vation that  has  any  serving  at  the  nocking  point  of  the 
arrow.  The  whole  bow  is  by  far  the  best  made  of  any 
aboriginal  weapon  in  the  group.  It  is  well  balanced,  rigid 
in  its  draw,  is  exceedingly  strong,  and  has  a musical 
twang  to  the  plucked  string.  The  action  is  sharp  and 
there  is  no  kick  in  the  hand.  When  drawn  26  inches  it 
weighs  80  pounds  and  shoots  180  yards.  It  seemed  such 
a good  bow  in  spite  of  the  brash  quality  of  the  wood  em- 


14 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


ployed  that  Mr.  Compton,  who  was  making  the  test,  was 
urged  to  draw  an  arrow  the  full  28  inches,  whereupon  the 
bow  fractured  at  the  center  with  a loud  report. 

A companion  how  to  this  specimen  was  repeatedly 
shot  with  all  sorts  of  arrows  and  proved  to  be  a wonder- 
fully good  weapon  for  short-distance,  forceful  shooting. 
It  is  no  doubt  a most  effective  implement  for  hunting  big 
game  at  close  range,  say  up  to  60  yards. 

When  not  braced  the  bow  is  practically  straight; 
when  braced,  with  the  string  the  set  length  found  on  the 
bow,  the  distance  between  the  string  and  the  handle  is 
only  4 inches.  This  is  what  archers  would  term  a low- 
strung  bow.  By  twisting  the  string  before  bracing  it  this 
distance  could  be  increased  to  5 inches,  the  usual  distance 
in  aboriginal  bows. 

A low-strung  bow  is  better  for  hunting  because  it 
strains  the  bow  less  during  the  long  hours  of  anticipation. 
High-strung  bows  have  a cleaner  cast  of  the  arrow  and 
produce  less  strain  on  the  string,  but  greater  fatigue  to 
the  bow. 

Yaqui  bow  (pi.  3,  fig.  10).  This  is  a much  used  bow, 
of  Osage  orange  or  hois  d’arc.  It  seems  to  have  been 
made  by  splitting  a limb;  there  are  many  knots  on  the 
bark  side,  which  constitutes  the  back.  These  knots  are 
raised,  no  attempt  at  leveling  them  having  been  made.  On 
cross-section  it  is  rather  wide  and  flat,  having  the  natural 
curve  of  the  wood  for  the  back  and  a flat  surface  for  the 
belly.  The  bow  follows  the  string.  Length,  59%  inches; 
diameters : at  handle,  11/2  by  %,  circumference,  4 inches ; 
at  mid-limb,  I14  by  %,  circumference,  3%  inches ; at  nock, 
1 by  %,  circumference,  2%  inches.  There  are  short  pin 
nocks  with  wide,  square  shoulders.  The  string  is  one- 
strand  twisted  rawhide,  %6  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  with 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


15 


a slipknot  at  the  top  and  half -hitches  at  the  bottom,  where 
the  string*  tapers  off  with  a buckskin  thong.  When  braced 
it  stands  5 inches  from  the  handle.  A dull  hum  comes 
from  the  plucked  cord.  It  is  a strong,  useful  bow,  jars 
little  in  the  hand,  very  resistant  at  the  last  of  the  draw, 
but  a pleasant  bow  to  shoot.  It  seems,  like  the  preceding 
weapon,  to  have  been  made  for  strong  effective  shooting. 
When  drawn  28  inches  it  pulls  70  pounds  and  casts  the 
flight  arrow  210  yards.  This  is  the  best  distance  made 
by  any  aboriginal  bow  in  our  tests,  and  speaks  well  for 
the  wood  employed  and  the  art  of  the  bow  maker. 

Yana  how  (pi.  3,  fig.  ID).  A red  yew  stave  having  all 
the  sapwood  removed ; backed  with  thin  rawhide  and  hav- 
ing a rawhide  handgrip.  Its  general  shape  is  flat  and 
wide,  on  cross-section  it  is  lenticular,  slightly  flatter  on 
the  belly  side.  The  nocks  are  short  pins  with  square 
shoulders,  the  last  inch  of  the  limb  being  bound  with 
sinew.  The  bow  is  straight;  slightly  recurved  at  the 
extremities  of  the  limbs.  It  is  a good  specimen  of  Ishi’s 
work.  Total  length,  55  inches,  considerably  longer  than 
was  his  custom  to  make  bows ; diameters : at  handle,  1% 
by  %,  circumference,  4 inches ; at  mid-limb,  % by  1/2,  cir- 
cumference, 4 inches;  below  the  nock,  % by  %,  circum- 
ference, 21/4  inches.  The  string  is  of  twisted  sinew,  % 
inch  in  diameter,  having  a formed  loop  at  the  top,  and 
bound  with  half -hitches  at  the  lower  nock.  A cotton  loop 
runs  from  the  upper  end  of  the  nock  and  serves  to  keep 
the  string  in  place  when  not  braced.  The  distance  be- 
tween string  and  bow  when  braced  is  41/2  inches. 

This  bow  when  drawn  26  inches,  the  usual  draw  of  the 
Yana  Indian  who  made  it,  pulls  42  pounds.  When  drawn 
28  inches  it  pulls  48  pounds  and  shoots  the  Ishi  flight 


2 Made  by  Ishi  in  1915.  Property  of  S.  T.  Pope. 


16 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


arrow  205  yards.  This  seems  to  be  an  adequate  strength 
for  hunting  purposes,  since  we  know  that  Ishi  killed  hear 
and  deer  with  a similar  bow. 

Blackfoot  how  (pi.  3,  fig.  12).  A red  painted  bow, 
probably  of  ash.  It  has  no  backing.  One  limb  is  badly 
sprung  and  has  a lateral  cast.  The  bow  is  slightly  re- 
flexed in  the  handle.  It  follows  the  string,  has  a left 
lateral  nock  at  the  upper  end,  and  a right  lateral  nock  at 
the  lower.  On  cross-section  it  is  a rounded  quadrilateral. 
As  no  string  accompanied  the  weapon  a light  linen  string 
was  supplied. 

Length,  471/2  inches ; diameters : at  handle,  1%  by  % 
inches,  circumference,  3%  inches ; at  mid-limb,  I14  ky  %&, 
circumference,  3 inches ; at  nock,  % by  %,  circumference, 
2 inches.  When  braced  4 inches  it  is  harsh  and  unpleas- 
ant to  shoot,  and  twists  in  the  hand.  When  drawn  25 
inches  it  pulls  45  pounds  and  shoots  145  yards. 

If  this  is  the  type  of  a Plains  Indian  hunting  bow, 
that  bow  was  a poor  one. 

JESSOP  BOWS 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Joseph  Jessop,  of  Santa 
Barbara,  California,  I was  able  to  test  a series  of  bows 
in  his  large  collection.  He  was  requested  to  send  a num- 
ber of  his  strongest  and  best  preserved  American  Indian 
bows,  and  graciously  supplied  the  following: 

Apache  how  (pi.  4,  fig.  13).  A well-made  bow,  having 
the  classic  cupid  shape.  The  wood  seems  to  be  white 
hickory  whose  straight  grain  suggests  that  it  was  made 
from  a wagon  hoop.  It  is  backed  with  sinew  and  has  a 
narrow  binding  of  the  same  at  the  center.  Length  over 
all,  41  inches ; diameters : at  handgrip,  1%  inches,  circum- 
ference, 3 inches;  at  mid-limb,  Ys  t>y  circumference, 
23^  inches ; at  nock,  % by  %,  circumference,  2 inches.  It 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


17 


is  flat  on  the  belly  and  back,  and  on  cross-section  it  is 
quadrilateral.  There  are  short  bilateral  nocks.  The  limbs 
are  decorated  on  the  belly  by  figures  in  red  stain.  The 
string  is  of  sinew,  two  strands  twisted,  having  a slipknot 
at  the  top  and  half-hitches  at  the  lower  nock.  When 
strung  it  proves  to  be  a lively  little  bow  whose  weight  is 
28  pounds  when  drawn  22  inches,  and  shoots  120  yards. 
It  did  not  seem  safe  to  draw  this  bow  any  more  than  this 
distance;  the  arrow  that  accompanied  it  was  only  24 
inches  long,  which  indicated  that  the  maximum  draw 
probably  had  been  reached.  This  is  a very  nice  little  bow 
but  apparently  meant  for  killing  only  rabbits  and  small 
game. 

Cheyenne  how  (pi.  4,  fig,  14).  A rough,  ugly  bow 
made  of  ash,  apparently  from  the  limb  of  a tree,  and 
heavily  backed  with  sinew.  The  workmanship  is  very 
crude.  The  bow  is  straight  and  thick  with  a cross-section 
almost  round  or  a flattened  oval  at  the  mid-limbs.  There 
is  no  binding  on  it  anywhere ; the  nocks  are  shallow  de- 
pressions in  the  sinew.  Length,  45  inches;  diameters: 
below  the  center,  li^  by  yg,  circumference,  3)4  inches;  at 
mid-limb,  1%  by  %,  circumference,  3)4  inches;  below 
nock,  Ys  by  %,  circumference,  2)4  inches. 

The  string  is  a rough  twist  of  two  strands  of  sinew, 
having  a slipknot  above  and  half-hitches  at  the  lower 
nock.  When  braced  and  drawn  20  inches  it  weighs  65 
pounds  and  casts  165  yards.  It  is  a stiff,  stubborn  bow, 
very  unpleasant  to  shoot,  not  made  for  show,  but  capable 
of  driving  an  arrow  with  considerable  force.  Probably 
if  drawn  24  inches,  which  is  the  limit  of  the  arrow  length, 
it  would  pull  about  80  pounds.  It  would  serve  no  doubt 
for  killing  buffalo  and  for  war  purposes.  It  shows  no 
particular  signs  of  having  been  used,  though  it  has  been 
greased. 


18 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


Eupa  how  (pi.  4,  fig.  15).  A typical  California  Indian 
bow,  made  of  a good  quality  of  yew,  broad  and  flat  in  the 
limbs,  heavily  backed  with  sinew,  and  having  nocks 
formed  of  overlapping  and  circular  bands  of  the  same 
material.  It  is  strongly  reflexed.  The  handgrip  is  of 
buckskin  thong  bound  about  the  center.  It  is  painted  red 
and  blue  in  a checkered  design  over  the  back.  Length, 
47  inches;  diameters:  below  handgrip,  1)4  by  )4  inches, 
circumference,  3^  inches;  at  mid-limb,  2^4  by  %,  circum- 
ference, 4%  inches;  at  tips,  % by  %6,  circumference  2 
inches.  The  string  is  very  smoothly  twisted  sinew  resem- 
bling a ’cello  string,  having  a formed  loop  at  the  top,  and 
made  fast  at  the  lower  nock  by  slipknots.  A bit  of  cotton 
string  extends  from  the  loop  to  the  upper  nock.  When 
braced  this  bow  is  very  musical,  has  a soft,  even  draw, 
and  weighs  40  pounds;  drawn  22  inches,  it  shoots  148 
yards.  In  action  it  bends  in  the  center  and  consequently 
kicks  in  the  hand.  It  would  seem  to  be  a good  bow  for 
small  game. 

Osage  how  (pi.  4,  fig.  16).  A rather  unusual  type  of 
how.  It  has  a small  cylindrical  handgrip,  wide,  flat  limbs, 
and  small  whip-end  tips.  It  is  apparently  made  of  hois 
d ^arc,  and  has  no  backing.  The  workmanship  is  excellent. 
It  is  471/2  inches  in  length,  the  handle  is  round  and 
approximately  "/g  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  Just  below 
this  the  limb  is  very  broad  and  has  a diameter  of  2 by  % 
inches,  circumference,  4)4  inches ; diameters : at  mid-limb, 
l)/2  by  )4,  circumference,  3^4  inches;  at  tip,  % hy  %, 
circumference,  I14  inches.  The  string  is  sinew  of  the 
usual  type.  The  nocks  are  short,  shallow,  and  rounded. 
When  drawn  20  inches  it  weighs  40  pounds  and  shoots 
92  yards.  It  is  a pleasant  bow  to  shoot,  but  weak. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


19 


Cree  how  (pi.  4,  fig.  17).  A flat  lath  of  ash  hound  with 
sinew  at  the  handle  and  nocks,  but  having  no  backing.  It 
is  fairly  straight  44  inches  long.  There  are  short  bilateral 
nocks.  Its  diameters  are : at  center,  1%  by  1^,  circumfer- 
ence, 3%  inches ; at  mid-limh,  1%  by  Viq,  circumference, 
3%  inches ; below  nock,  1 by  %,  circumference,  214  inches. 
The  string  is  sinew,  with  a slipknot  above  and  the  usual 
hitches  below.  This  specimen  was  fractured  at  the  handle 
when  drawn  20  inches,  and  registered  38  pounds  at  that 
moment.  It  is  an  inferior  type  of  weapon. 

Blackfoot  bow  (pi.  4,  fig.  18).  This  bow  has  seen  con- 
siderable service,  and  bears  evidence  of  many  greasings 
and  hard  use.  It  is  a piece  of  split  red  hickory,  heavily 
backed  with  sinew,  with  short  rounded  nocks.  Length, 
40  inches ; diameter : below  handgrip,  1%  by  %,  circum- 
ference, 314  inches ; at  mid-limb,  1%  by  14>  circumference, 
3 inches;  below  nock,  % by  l/2>  circumference,  2 inches. 
On  cross-section  it  is  lenticular,  or  a flat  oval.  The  sinew 
draws  it  into  a reflexed  position  when  not  braced.  The 
string  is  made  of  two  strands  of  twisted  sinew,  having  a 
slipknot  at  the  upper  nock,  and  half -hitches  at  the  lower. 
When  braced  it  is  a springy,  vigorous  weapon,  and  by  far 
the  best  shooter  in  the  group.  When  drawn  20  inches  it 
weighs  40  pounds  and  shoots  153  yards. 

It  is  possible  that  in  its  youth  this  Blackfoot  bow 
might  have  been  drawn  farther  and  have  shot  harder, 
but  now  it  cracks  ominously  when  drawn  above  20  inches. 
This  seems  to  be  the  type  of  weapon  that  was  used  on 
horseback  and  doubtless  it  is  strong  enough  for  butfalo 
hunting.  Mr.  Jessop  assures  me  that  it  is  a butfalo  bow. 
If  this  be  the  case  we  must  assume  that  it  does  not  take 
a very  powerful  weapon  to  kill  bison. 


20 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  AEROWS 


BOWS  FEOM  THE  AMEEICAN  MUSEUM  OF  NATUEAL  HISTOET — 

Professor  A.  L.  Kroeber  was  instrumental  in  obtain- 
ing a number  of  bows  from  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  New  York.  They  were  as  follows : 

Congo  bow  (pi.  5,  fig.  19).  This  how  is  merely  the 
limb  of  a tree  similar  in  appearance  to  our  alder.  It  is 
split  by  dehydration,  and  too  brittle  to  be  shot.  Length, 
52  inches ; on  cross-section  it  averages  Yg  inch.  It  has  a 
sinew  of  fine  vegetable  fiber  string  and  conical  nocks  with 
slight  shoulders.  The  excess  string  is  bound  about  the 
upper  limb  in  a decorative  pattern.  It  is  permanently 
bent,  and  apparently  was  kept  strung  up  all  the  time.  In 
its  youth  it  may  have  been  a fairly  good  little  bow.  The 
workmanship  is  admirable,  but  the  wood  and  the  size  of 
it  prove  that  it  was  not  a very  effective  weapon. 

African  how  (pi.  5,  fig.  20).  This  bow  is  made  of  iron- 
wood,  is  59  inches  long,  is  reflexed  at  the  handle,  crooked, 
and  follows  the  string.  It  has  conical  nocks  with  a 
leather  ring  around  the  bow  at  these  points  to  guard  the 
string  against  slipping.  It  is  ovoid  on  cross-section.  At 
the  handle  it  is  % hy  % inches,  circumference,  2%  inches ; 
at  the  mid-limb,  % by  %,  circumference,  2%  inches; 
below  the  nock,  by  l/o,  circumference,  lYg  inches. 
There  was  no  string,  so  one  was  supplied  of  waxed  linen. 
When  drawn  18  inches,  which  was  apparently  all  the  bow 
would  stand  without  breaking,  it  weighed  54  pounds. 

Shooting  the  short  flight  arrow  six  successive  times, 
its  best  cast  was  107  yards.  A fairly  effective  weapon 
at  short  range,  it  is  an  unpleasant  bow  to  shoot,  being 
harsh  and  tending  to  twist  in  the  hand. 

Andaman  Islands  bow  (pi.  5,  fig.  21).  Veiy  peculiar 
in  shape,  having  a small  cylindrical  handgrip,  broad  flat 
limbs,  and  slender  tapering  nocks.  It  is  made  of  a white. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


21 


fine-grained  wood,  about  the  quality  of  our  birch.  Total 
length,  62  inches.  At  the  handle  it  is  1 by  % iiioh ; 
mid-limb,  2%  by  % inches,  circumference,  5%  inches;  % 
by  % inch  at  the  nocks.  The  limbs  in  cross-section  are 
two  flattened  arcs;  the  upper  limb  is  reflexed.  Fiber 
rings  encircle  the  nocks  to  prevent  the  string  from  slip- 
ping. There  was  no  string  and  a linen  one  was  supplied. 
When  drawn  20  inches  the  weight  is  45  pounds ; it  did  not 
seem  safe  to  draw  it  farther.  Its  cast  was  142  yards. 
This  is  a very  fair  sort  of  a bow  and  shows  good  work- 
manship. 

South  American  how  (pi.  5,  fig.  22).  A black  longbow 
of  palma  hrava.  It  is  square  in  cross-section  and  has  the 
usual  rope  string  of  this  type.  The  excess  is  bound  about 
the  upper  limb  in  a decorative  way,  which  shows  that 
the  archer  had  no  conception  of  what  is  required  of  a bow 
for  strong  shooting.  This  dead  weight  on  a limb  would 
interfere  with  its  resilient  recoil.  Length,  74  inches.  At 
the  center  the  bow  is  % ^7  % inches;  at  the  mid-limb, 
% by  ^ inches ;,  at  the  nock,  which  is  a slight  shoulder, 
V2  Iby  % inches.  When  drawn  28  inches  it  weighs  50 
pounds  and  shoots  98  yards.  Its  action  is  heavy,  slow, 
and  jarring.  Considering  the  excellence  of  the  wood,  this 
bow  speaks  of  a lack  of  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the 
maker. 

Solomon  Islands  how  (pi.  5,  fig.  23).  A heavy,  dark, 
well  made  bow  of  palma  hrava.  Length,  74  inches ; broad 
in  the  center,  tapering  to  conical  nocks.  On  cross-section 
it  is  lenticular  in  shape,  with  a rounded  belly  but  with  a 
wide  groove  running  down  the  back.  At  the  center  it  is 
1^2  by  % inches,  circumference  4 inches;  at  the  mid- 
limb, by  %,  circumference,  3)4  inches;  at  the  nock, 
% by  %,  circumference,  1%  inches.  The  string  is  of 
some  vegetable  fiber,  twisted  and  polished,  and  is  served 


22 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  AKROWS 


at  the  center  with  thin  rattan  ribbon  for  a distance  of 
4 inches.  The  string  is  attached  to  the  nocks  in  a peculiar 
way.  A loop  is  made  by  repeated  half -hitches,  applied 
in  a reversed  manner,  every  alternate  cast.  This  is  stuck 
together  by  some  adhesive  substance,  thus  forming  a per- 
manent cap  of  matted  string  for  a loop  which  covers  the 
nock  for  a distance  of  an  inch  or  more.  It  is  a very  well 
made  string.  This  bow  weighs  56  pounds  when  drawn 
26  inches  and  shoots  148  yards.  Possibly  it  could  have 
been  drawn  farther,  but  I doubt  that  its  cast  would  exceed 
175  yards  under  any  conditions.  Although  it  bends  in 
the  handle  and  in  consequence  jars  the  hand,  it  is  never- 
theless a good  effective  weapon. 

New  Guinea  how  (pi.  5,  fig.  24).  A well-made  bow 
71  inches  long,  broad  and  flat  on  the  back.  On  cross- 
section  it  shows  a low  arc.  It  is  made  apparently  of 
palma  hrava  and  is  bound  at  the  conical  nocks  and  at  the 
middle  of  the  lower  limb  with  rattan  sewing.  The  string 
is  a flat  bamboo  ribbon.  There  is  no  handgrip.  The  bow 
shows  signs  of  having  been  greased.  At  the  center  it  is 
1%  by  % inches,  circumference,  4 inches;  at  the  mid- 
limb, 1%  by  y2,  circumference,  3)4  inches;  at  the  nock, 
% by  %,  circumference,  114  inches.  This  bow  was  not  in 
perfect  condition  so  it  was  deemed  inadvisable  to  risk 
weighing  or  shooting  it. 

Philippine  how,  prohahly  Mindanao  (pi.  5,  fig.  25). 
Made  of  split  bamboo,  bark  left  on  the  belly  of  the  bow; 
rattan  binding  at  the  handgrip.  The  string  is  a ribbon 
of  split  bamboo,  with  formed  loops  and  rattan  serving  at 
the  ends.  There  are  posterior  nocks;  two  near  together 
at  the  upper  extremity.  Length,  55  inches;  flat,  weak, 
and  of  no  apparent  value  as  a weapon.  The  second  nock 
at  the  upper  end  apparently  was  used  to  make  the  bow 
higher  strung  when  desired.  It  was  in  no  condition  to 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


23 


be  shot,  but  probably  was  no  stronger  than  the  one  de- 
scribed in  the  previous  group.  Its  cast  would  not  exceed 
100  yards. 

African  how  (pi.  5,  fig.  26).  Practically  the  same  as 
that  described  as  a Congo  bow.  It  was  not  shot,  being 
apparently  too  brittle. 

TAETAE  BOWS— 

Tartar  hows  (pi.  6).  My  brother.  Major  B.  H.  Pope, 
U.  S.  Army,  stationed  in  the  Philippines,  went  upon  an 
extended  hunting  trip  into  China.  His  journey  carried 
him  beyond  the  Chinese  Wall  into  the  province  of  Shansi 
and  the  Gobi  Desert.  At  my  request  he  obtained  two 
Chinese  bows  from  this  location.  The  Chinese  donor  of 
these  specimens  had  practiced  archery  when  a boy.  He 
offered  the  Major  several  bows  from  which  the  two 
strongest  were  selected,  with  a number  of  Chinese  arrows. 

The  weaker  of  these  bows  was  designated  as  a number 
three  bow,  and  apparently  meant  only  for  target  practice. 
It  is  in  perfect  condition  although  supposed  to  have  been 
made  in  the  Ming  dynasty  or  over  a century  ago.  It  is 
of  course  composite  in  structure  and  strongly  reflexed. 
The  belly  is  composed  of  whalebone  or  horn  of  the  water 
buffalo  inlaid  on  the  edges  with  some  yellow  metal.  The 
handle  is  of  shagreen,  or  shark  skin.  The  back  is  covered 
with  a thin  veneer  of  birch  bark.  The  ears  or  ends  of 
the  limbs  are  of  a wood  resembling  beech.  The  nocks  are 
of  inserted  buffalo  horn.  The  string  is  silk,  terminating 
at  each  end  in  a long  loop.  The  knot  of  the  loop  is  a 
perfect  bowline  knot,  and  serves  as  a resting  place  for 
the  string  as  it  crosses  the  bone  fulcrum  or  block  which 
all  these  Asiatic  bows  have  on  their  upper  and  lower 
limbs.  This  fulcrum  serves  to  keep  the  string  from  slip- 
ping when  the  bow  is  braced,  and  likewise  gives  a clean 


24 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


vibration  of  the  string  when  the  bow  is  discharged.  The 
string  is  served  its  entire  length  with  silk  thread  and  has 
special  serving  at  the  nocking  point.  There  are  decora- 
tions at  the  handle.  Altogether  it  is  a beautifully  made 
weapon.  Entire  length,  74  inches.  Just  above  the  cylin- 
drical handle  it  is  1 by  1 inch,  circumference,  314  inches; 
at  the  mid-limb,  II/2  wide  by  % thick,  circumference,  3i/^ 
inches ; at  the  beginning  of  the  ear  it  is  1%  by  %,  circum- 
ference, 31/2  inches.  The  cross-section  of  this  portion  of 
the  bow  is  a double  flat  arc.  The  ear  itself  is  quadri- 
lateral and  measures  % by  % inches.  The  bow  weighs 
iy2  pounds  avoirdupois,  and  pulls  30  pounds  when  drawn 
28  inches.  It  shoots  the  Chinese  target  arrow  which 
accompanies  it  90  yards,  and  the  Ishi  flight  arrow  100 
yards.  It  is  possible  to  draw  this  bow  very  much  farther 
than  28  inches,  because  it  is  so  flexible  and  weak.  I there- 
fore drew  the  Chinese  target  arrow  back  some  36  inches, 
and  it  flew  112  yards. 

The  larger  of  these  Chinese  bows  is  truly  a huge  atfair 
and  seems  to  have  been  constructed  for  some  giant  in 
strength.  It  is  composite  in  type,  composed,  like  the 
other,  of  horn,  wood,  and  probably  sinew,  although  this 
cannot  be  seen  because  of  the  covering  of  birch  bark. 

These  Chinese  from  whom  the  bow  was  obtained  said 
that  the  entire  structure  was  covered  with  the  gut  of  a 
pig.  There  is  no  evidence  to  prove  this,  and  certainly 
the  horn  is  not  covered  but  shows  many  cracks  from  dry- 
ing and  age.  The  birch  bark  is  perforated  at  many  places 
by  numerous  minute  holes  where  some  tropical  insect  has 
eaten  its  way  into  the  wood.  This  bow  had  been  kept  in  a 
Chinese  temple  in  the  town  of  Guei-hua-chen ; it  was  an  old 
war  bow  of  the  last  djuiasty,  and  is  probably  over  100  years 
old.  Before  using  the  weapon  I anointed  it  repeatedly  with 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


25 


raw  linseed  oil  to  prevent  it  from  breaking.  Length, 
74  inches  over  all.  From  nock  to  ear  it  is  9 inches.  The 
handgrip  is  made  of  a piece  of  pigskin,  and  the  how  at 
this  point  is  1%  by  1^2  inches,  circumference,  4%  inches. 
At  the  mid-limb,  which  is  flat  and  broad,  it  is  2 by  1,  cir- 
cumference, 5 inches;  near  the  outer  wooden  limb,  21/4 
by  %,  circumference,  5 inches.  This  outer  limb  is  a 
by  % inch  quadrilateral. 

This  bow  weighs  3i/4  pounds  and  when  drawn  28  inches 
it  pulls  98  pounds.  The  string  of  the  bow  is  an  immense 
rawhide  rope,  the  size  of  rope  ordinarily  used  to  lassoo 
cattle.  It  is  composed  of  many  twisted  strands,  ending 
in  large  loops  at  each  end.  Here,  as  in  the  smaller  bow, 
the  loop  is  tied  with  a bowline  knot,  and  rests  upon  a 
large  bone  block  or  fulcrum.  This  string  is  65  inches 
long  from  loop  to  loop,  % inch  thick,  and  6 ounces  in 
weight.  The  bow  is  so  strong  that  it  is  necessary  to  place 
the  handle  in  a bench  vise  and  call  upon  another  man  to 
assist  in  bracing  it.  When  braced  no  white  man  could 
pull  it.  My  brother  asserts  that  the  Chinese  who  gave 
him  the  bow  not  only  could  string  it  himself  but  could 
shoot  it.  Neither  Mr.  Compton  nor  I could  pull  the  string 
back  more  than  one  foot,  so  we  resorted  to  a method  of 
strapping  the  bow  to  our  feet  and  while  lying  on  our 
backs  pulling  the  string  with  two  hands.  By  this  means 
we  were  able  to  shoot  the  weapon.  It  could  be  drawn  up 
over  30  inches  this  way,  and  apparently  lost  none  of  its 
casting  power  in  the  maneuver. 

The  war  arrow  which  came  with  the  bow  is  a huge 
shaft  38  inches  long  with  an  iron  head  4 inches  in  length 
(pi.  12,  fig.  1).  Its  diameter  is  inch  and  its  weight  is 
4 ounces.  Drawing  this  arrow  30  inches,  it  flew  only  100 
yards. 


26 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


A special  bamboo  flight  arrow  37  inches  long  was  con- 
structed, having  a bone  nock  and  made  expressly  large 
to  fit  the  string.  Its  weight  was  li/^  ounces.  It  shot 
110  yards  when  drawn  36  inches.  The  Ishi  flight  arrow, 
drawn  29  inches,  shot  only  90  yards. 

The  poor  showing  of  this  bow  was  a great  disappoint- 
ment, because  we  expected  a long  flight  from  it.  Tartar 
bows  are  supposed  to  be  capable  of  shooting  a quarter  of 
a mile.  There  seemed  to  be  no  structural  deficiency  in  the 
implement,  but  its  cast  was  slow,  dull,  jarring,  and  im- 
potent considering  the  great  amount  of  force  necessary" 
to  draw  it.  Part  of  this  lubberly  action  seemed  to  be  due 
to  the  excessively  heavy  string.  I therefore  constructed 
a string  of  90  strands  of  Barbour’s  number  12  Irish  linen, 
well  waxed  and  twisted,  and  having  strong  hemp  loops 
for  the  nocks.  It  weighed  2 ounces  and  had  a diameter 
at  the  center  of  %6  of  an  inch.  With  this  string  the  bow 
cast  the  war  arrow  105  yards,  the  bamboo  flight  arrow, 
161  yards,  and  the  Ishi  flight  arrow,  175  yards.  Many 
other  arrows  were  tried  on  this  bow,  all  with  the  same 
disappointing  results.  Evidently,  at  least  for  light 
arrows,  a heavy  string  may  seriously  impede  the  cast 
of  a bow.  (See  below  under  An  Experiment  in  Bow 
Strings. ) 

That  none  of  the  failure  of  this  bow  to  come  up  to 
our  expectations  might  be  due  to  our  method  of  shooting 
it  with  our  feet,  we  tried  shooting  the  English  longbow 
for  comparison,  drawnng  it  with  two  hands  and  the  feet. 
Its  cast  was  250  yards,  or  practically  the  same  cast  as 
when  shot  in  the  proper  way,  shoAving  no  loss  of  cast 
ascribed  to  this  change  of  release. 

This  Tartar  bow  exemplifies  two  things : first,  that  the 
excessive  leverage  of  the  inflexible  end  limbs  is  no  advan- 
tage, but  rather  detracts  from  the  resiliency  of  the  bow. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


27 


and  throws  most  of  the  work  of  the  bow  up  near  the 
handle  where  it  does  little  good;  second,  that  apparently 
the  Chinese  conception  of  warfare  entailed  the  use  of 
dreadful  appearances  and  intimidation,  and  that  these 
principles  applied  to  bows  do  not  make  them  more 
efficient  engines  of  destruction.  They  shot  mighty  bows 
and  enormous  arrows,  which  more  nearly  resembled  jave- 
lins, but  these  were  so  impotent  when  compared  with  the 
robust,  effective  shooting  of  the  English  longbow,  or  the 
Turkish  composite  bow,  that  the  Chinese  suffer  by  com- 
parison, as  they  must  have  suffered  in  martial  contest. 

JAPANESE  BOWS— 

A Japanese  archer,  Mr.  H.  Shimizu,  of  San  Francisco, 
gave  me  the  opportunity  to  shoot  one  of  his  target  bows 
(pi.  7).  It  was  the  usual  composite,  reflexed  bow  of  his 
people.  Its  length  was  approximately  7 feet  4 inches 
and  it  measured  approximately  1 inch  square  at  the  hand- 
grip, which  is  situated  at  some  distance  below  the  center. 
It  seems  that  the  Japanese  gauge  the  strength  of  their 
bows  by  the  diameter  at  the  handle.  The  cross-section 
of  a limb  is  practically  quadrilateral. 

The  bow  under  trial  was  of  medium  strength.  It 
weighed  48  pounds  when  drawn  28  inches  though  it 
was  capable  of  being  drawn  34  inches  or  more.  It  cast 
the  Japanese  target  arrow  that  was  employed  by  Mr. 
Shimizu,  drawn  to  its  full  length — 32  inches — a distance 
of  156  yards.  Ishi’s  flight  arrow,  drawn  29  inches,  made 
a distance  of  182  yards.  Mr.  Shimizu  was  not  able  to 
better  these  distances.  He  had  several  weaker  bows, 
weighing  about  35  pounds,  which  were  not  tried  for  their 
cast.  I was  unable  to  obtain  a strong  Japanese  military 
bow.  Doubtless  it  is  an  excellent  weapon. 


28 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


Mr.  Shimizu  gave  me  a short  section  of  a how  which 
he  had  sawed  in  two.  It  was  composed  of  five  pieces  of 
wood,  the  three  in  the  center  being  respectively  mulberry, 
bamboo,  mulberry,  while  the  belly  and  back  were  thin 
strips  of  bamboo.  These  were  glued  together  and  bound 
at  intervals  with  rattan  or  bamboo  ribbon. 

The  string  was  most  excellently  made  of  twisted  hemp 
fiber,  sized  with  some  sort  of  glue  or  starch,  and  served 
at  the  loops  with  red  silk  ribbons.  Although  about  % of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  which  is  the  size  of  an  English  bow 
string,  this  Japanese  string  was  not  strong  enough  to 
stand  the  strain  of  a 50-pound  English  longbow,  but 
promptly  broke  when  used. 

The  Japanese  target  arrows  are  of  bamboo,  34  inches 
in  length,  % in  diameter,  nicely  feathered  with  fish  hawk 
feathers,  and  have  a very  true  flight.  The  nock  is  an 
inserted  plug  of  some  hard  white  wood  resembling  box- 
wood, while  the  pile  or  point  is  a short  conical  iron  cap. 
Their  weight  is  448  grains. 

NEGRITO  BOW— 

Mr.  R.  F.  Barton  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  shoot 
a Negrito  bow  (pi.  8),  a specimen  from  his  Philippine 
collection.  It  was  a well  made  weapon  of  palma  hrava, 
6 feet  4 inches  in  length,  excellently  finished,  having  a 
rounded  back  and  a concave  belly,  making  a most  unusual 
cross-section.  At  the  center  it  is  1 by  inches,  circum- 
ference, 31/8  inches ; at  the  mid-limh,  % by  %,  circumfer- 
ence, 2^/4^  inches ; at  the  nock,  I/2  by  %,  circmnference,  1% 
inches.  It  has  short  conical  nocks  with  slight  shoulders. 
The  string  is  twisted  and  highly  polished  vegetable  fiber, 
having  no  well  formed  loop.  This  string  broke  during 
the  tests,  and  a linen  string  was  substituted.  When  dra^vn 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


29 


28  inches  it  weighed  56  pounds.  It  cast  its  own  arrow, 
a long  bamboo  shaft,  a distance  of  124  yards.  The  Ishi 
flight  arrow  was  shot  176  yards.  It  is  of  fairly  good 
wood  but  follows  the  string  badly,  is  heavy  in  the  hand, 
and  kicks.  Palma  hrava  is  very  much  inferior  to  yew, 
cedar,  or  hickory. 

POLYNESIAN  BOW— 

A Polynesian  bow,  made  of  some  heavy  black  wood, 
was  given  me  by  Mr.  John  Wightman,  a South  Sea  Island 
merchant.  Length,  6 feet  7 inches.  Its  general  shape  is 
flat  on  the  back  and  convex  on  the  belly,  wide  in  the  cen- 
ter, with  tapering  ends.  There  are  conical  nocks  with 
carving  on  the  outer  limbs  just  below  them.  Center,  1% 
by  % inches,  circumference,  4%  inches;  mid-limb,  li/4  by 
%,  circumference,  3%  inches ; at  the  nocks,  I/2  by  i/2>  cir- 
cumference, 2 inches.  No  string  was  attached,  and  a 
linen  one  was  supplied.  When  drawn  28  inches  it  weighs 
48  pounds  and  casts  163  yards.  Its  cast  is  sluggish  and 
heavy  and  it  jars  in  the  hand  badly.  It  is  not  a good  bow 
from  an  archer’s  standpoint.  With  a longer  flight  arrow, 
and  drawing  it  over  34  inches,  this  bow  shot  187  yards. 

The  arrows  that  came  with  the  bow,  two  in  number, 
were  of  bamboo,  5 feet  long,  with  a heavy  black  wood  for 
a foreshaft  and  no  feathers.  They  were  apparently  in- 
tended for  shooting  fish.  When  shot  over  the  target 
course  they  flew  most  erratically  and  their  extreme  range 
was  136  yards.  These  arrows  were  beautifully  decorated 
with  engraved  formal  designs,  bound  at  the  nocks  and 
joint  with  foreshaft,  with  a dark  fiber-like  rattan. 


30 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


EEPLICAS  OF  ANCIENT  BOWS— 

In  an  effort  to  obtain  a Turkish  composite  bow  for 
trial  I visited  the  supply  depot  of  Mr.  Francis  Banner- 
man,  of  New  York,  a dealer  in  antique  arms.  He  had 
several  Turkish  bows,  but  all  were  in  such  a stage  of  dis- 
integration that  they  were  incapable  of  being  used.  I 
therefore  constructed  (pi.  9,  figs.  1 and  2)  a composite 
bow  of  cow’s  horn  sawn  in  strips  % inch  wide  and  12 
to  14  inches  long,  glued  on  a base  of  hickory  4 feet  long, 
1/4  inch  thick,  and  1^4  inches  wide,  which  had  been  pre- 
viously bent  by  heat  into  a strongly  reflexed  curve.  On 
the  back  of  this  hickory  were  laid  one  hundred  strands 
of  number  3 surgical  catgut  and  a strip  of  thin  rawhide. 
The  whole  form  was  carefully  rasped  into  shape  and 
encased  in  thin  rawhide,  bound  at  inter^mls  with  linen 
thread.  The  general  plan  of  the  bow  followed  the  de- 
scription of  the  Egyptian  composite  bow  found  in  a tomb 
at  Thebes  supposed  to  be  of  the  time  of  Eameses  II. 
This  specimen  has  been  carefully  described  by  Dr.  von 
Luschan.®  I also  took  into  consideration  the  dissection 
of  a Persian  bow  detailed  by  Mr.  Balfour.^  My  com- 
pleted product  was  a very  powerful  and  well  made  bow, 
representing  excellently  this  type  of  implement.  Length, 
48  inches,  the  width  of  the  mid-limbs  1^,  the  thickness 
% of  an  inch.  A cross-section  is  oval.  The  string  is  of 
linen,  90  strands  Barbour’s  number  12.  This  bow  weighs 
85  pounds  when  drawn  29  inches. 

With  this  bow  I hoped  to  exceed  the  American  flight 
record  of  290  yards  made  by  Maxson  in  1891.  But  so  far 
the  best  flight  from  it  has  been  9 yards  less  than  the 
record  and  was  made  mider  unusual  circumstances.  The 


3 See  Badminton,  p.  63. 

4 See  Structure  and  AfiSnities  of  the  Composite  Bow. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  AEEOWS 


31 


bow  was  shot  both  with  the  Ishi  arrow,  which  it  cast  250 
yards,  and  a 25-mch  bamboo  flight  arrow,  shot  through  a 
5-mch  papier  mdche  horn.  By  this  latter  device  it  was 
able  to  shoot  266  yards ; but  with  an  especially  light  bam- 
boo arrow  30  inches  long,  having  a birch  foreshaft,  tipped 
with  the  jacket  of  a 30  calibre  army  rifle  bullet,  the  shaft 
being  feathered  with  very  minute  soft  owl  feathers,  I 
was  able  to  shoot  274  yards.  Upon  one  occasion  when 
the  string  broke  at  the  moment  of  recoil,  the  arrow  flew 
281  yards,  which  is  the  farthest  shot  ever  made  in  our 
experience  on  level  ground.® 

The  “Mary  Rose”  how.  It  is  a strange  circumstance 
that  with  all  the  wealth  of  material  in  the  line  of  archery 
tackle  which  existed  in  England  up  to  the  seventeenth 
century,  there  should  be  preserved  not  one  single  speci- 
men of  the  English  longbow  or  arrow.  One  hears  of  the 
marvelous  deeds  of  English  archers  of  old  and  the 
strength  of  their  artillery,  yet  we  have  no  specimens  of 
this  fleeting  glory  to  view  in  reverence.  The  only  real 
link  between  romance  and  reality  lies  in  the  existence  of 
two  unfinished  staves  found  in  the  sunken  vessel,  “Mary 
Eose.”  This  English  ship  went  down  off  the  coast  of 
Albion  in  the  year  1545.  She  was  recovered  in  1841. 
There  were  on  board,  besides  matters  of  no  interest  to 
archery,  two  yew  staves  in  good  preservation  which 
measure  6 feet  4%  inches,  with  a girth  of  41/2  inches ; in 
the  mid-limb  the  circumference  is  4 inches,  and  1 foot 
from  the  tips  the  circumference  is  314  inches.®  There 
were  no  nocks  on  these  bows  and  no  handgrip.  Because 
of  their  age  they  have  never  been  bent,  weighed,  or  shot. 

5 Shooting  a 68-pound  yew  bow  and  a bamboo  flight  arrow  with  the  wind 
slightly  in  my  favor,  and  the  ground  falling  on  a gentle  slope,  I once  shot 
300  yards  and  8 inches. 

6 See  Badminton,  p.  124. 


32 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  AEROWS 


Their  strength  has  been  variously  estimated  from  75  to 
100  pounds. 

In  order  to  have  some  reasonable  data  on  the  subject 
of  the  famous  English  longbow,  I undertook  the  construc- 
tion of  a replica  of  these  bows  (pi.  9,  figs.  3 and  4).  I 
selected  a very  fine  grade  of  Oregon  yew  seasoned  five 
years,  red  and  clear  grained,  running  40  lines  to  the  inch ; 
there  was  % of  an  inch  of  white  sapwood.  Of  this  yew  I 
made  a bow  the  exact  dimensions  of  the  “Mary  Rose” 
longbow.  The  finished  stave  had  a formidable  appear- 
ance, and  to  look  at  it,  one  would  say  that  it  was  a very 
powerful  weapon,  probably  pulling  over  85  pounds,  and 
must  have  a correspondingly  long  cast. 

It  was  shot  with  simple  wooden  nocks  and  a linen 
string  of  75  strands.  When  drawn  28  inches  it  weighed 
only  52  pounds  and  shot  the  flight  arrow  185  yards.  This 
undoubtedly  is  due  to  the  great  length  of  limb,  which 
gives  added  leverage.  When  drawn  36  inches  it  weighed 
72  pounds  and  shot  the  long  bamboo  flight  arrow  212 
yards.  When  drawn  36  inches  it  shot  the  replica  of  an 
old  English  broadhead  or  war  arrow,  described  later,  a 
distance  of  117  yards.  These  records  are  another  distinct 
disappointment  and  seemingly  are  not  the  fault  of  the 
quality  of  the  wood  in  the  bow  or  of  its  construction. 

To  test  whether  or  not  this  bow  might  not  improve 
in  cast  were  it  made  shorter,  it  was  cut  down  to  a length 
of  6 feet.  It  weighed  now  62  pounds  and  shot  the  Ishi 
flight  arrow  227  yards.  We  know  of  course  from  Toxo- 
philus^  that  the  standard  English  bow  was  cut  down  from 

Aseliam-Toxophilus,  p.  109 : ‘ ‘ Take  your  bow  into  the  field,  shoot  in 
him,  sink  him  with  dead  heavy  shafts,  look  where  he  cometh  most,  provide 
for  that  place  betimes,  lest  it  piuch,  and  so  fret:  Wlien  you  have  thus  shot 
in  him,  and  perceive  good  shooting  wood  in  him,  you  must  have  him  again 
to  a good  cunning  and  trusty  workman,  which  shall  cut  him  shorter,  and  pike 
him,  and  dress  him  fitter,  make  him  come  round  compass  everywhere,  and 
whipping  at  the  ends,  but  with  discretion,  etc ” 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


33 


these  stock  lengths  to  suit  the  size  and  strength  of  the 
archer  who  shot  them.  The  average  bow  was  the  height 
of  a man  and  his  arrow  three-quarters  of  the  standard 
yard,  or  about  28  inches. 

This  bow  was  again  cut  down  to  a length  of  5 feet, 
8 inches  between  nocks.  The  limbs  were  tapered  a trifle 
to  distribute  the  strain  evenly  over  the  short  arc  thus 
formed.  The  weapon  under  these  conditions  weighs  70 
pounds  when  drawn  28  inches  and  shoots  the  flight  arrow 
245  yards,  thus  showing  the  advantage  of  a properly 
adjusted  stave.  Since  there  is  a great  difference  in  the 
casting  quality  of  wood,  it  is  possible  that  another  stave 
may  have  made  a stronger  bow. 

Cliff  dweller^s  how.  The  oldest  aboriginal  American 
bow  (pi.  8),  that  came  under  our  observation  is  one 
obtained  from  the  cliff  dwellings  of  Arizona.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  its  discovery  are  unknown.  It  probably 
represents  a type  of  bow  used  in  pre-Columbian  times 
and  possibly  is  over  one  thousand  years  old.  The  work- 
manship on  this  bow  is  excellent.  It  is  a juniper  stave 
4 feet  9%  inches  long,  slightly  reflexed  at  the  handle. 
It  shows  signs  of  long  usage  and  is  chafed  at  the  left, 
above  the  handgrip,  where  the  arrow  crossed  it  in  pass- 
age. It  is  bound  at  the  center  with  a buckskin  thong 
and  apparently  is  padded  slightly  with  red  woodpecker 
feathers.  At  the  upper  and  lower  edges  of  the  handgrip 
these  feathers  project  a short  distance  beyond  the  bind-  - 
ing.  At  short  intervals,  up  and  down  the  limbs,  there  is 
a narrow  sinew  binding  but  no  evidence  of  backing. 

The  nocks  are  simple  truncated  cones  of  a different 
color  than  the  wood,  suggesting  that  a leather  nock  or 
binding  kept  the  string  in  place.  A cross-section  of  the 
bow  is  quadrilateral,  slightly  rounded  on  back  and  belly. 
At  the  handgrip,  the  width  is  1%6  inches,  thickness, 


34 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


at  the  mid-limb,  1%6  by  % inches ; at  the  nock,  i/^  by  % 
of  an  inch.  Its  strength  certainly  does  not  exceed  50 
pounds.  Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  shoot  this  speci- 
men. It  has  a recent  fracture  in  the  upper  limb,  suggest- 
ing that  some  one  had  made  some  attempt  to  shoot  it.  I 
doubt  that  such  a bow  could  shoot  more  than  200  yards. 
Two  arrows  (pi.  8)  were  found  with  this  bow  and  will 
be  described  later. 

King  Philipps  bow.  In  the  Peabody  Museum  of 
Harvard  University  is  a specimen  of  a North  American 
Indian  bow®  which  represents  the  type  of  weapon  used 
by  the  natives  of  New  England  in  the  year  1660  a.d.  This 
weapon  has  been  referred  to  as  King  Philip’s  bow. 
Through  Professor  Kroeber  it  was  possible  to  obtain  an 
outline  drawing®  of  this  specimen  and  exact  measure- 
ments. 

There  is  no  string  and  no  backing  on  the  bow.  It  is 
a simple  stave,  square  in  the  handle,  flat  in  the  limbs,  and 
having  small,  short,  bilateral  or  shoulder  nocks. 

Securing  a very  dense  grained,  well  seasoned  red 
hickory  stave,  I constructed  a bow  exactly  according  to 
the  outline  scale  and  the  given  dimensions.  This  replica, 
when  drawn  28  inches,  weighs  46  pounds.  It  shoots  the 
flight  arrow  173  yards.  It  is  soft  and  pleasant  to  shoot, 
and  could  do  etfective  work  either  as  a hunting  or  war 
implement.  In  many  ways  it  resembles  the  bow  of  the 
California  Indian  with  its  flat,  wide  limbs  and  narrow 
waist.  It  would  be  improved  had  it  reflexed  extremities 
and  heavy  sinew  backing,  but  the  original  gives  no  sug- 
gestion of  these  features. 

8 Number  9340. 

9 A note  attached  to  the  detail  drawing  is  as  follows : ‘ ‘ Made  of  hick- 
ory. This  bow  was  taken  from  an  Indian  in  Ludbury,  Massachusetts,  in 
the  year  1660,  by  William  Goodenough,  who  shot  the  Indian.  ’ ’ 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


35 


AN  EXPEEIMENT  ON  BOW  STRINGS— 

An  English  bowstring  made  of  sixty  strands  of  Irish 
linen,  Barbour’s  number  12,  weighs  three-quarters  of  an 
ounce.  The  diameter,  when  well  waxed,  is  % of  an  inch ; 
length,  5 feet  8 inches.  Each  strand  of  thread  has  a 
tensile  strength  of  6 pounds,  or  the  entire  string  has  a 
breaking  point  of  360  pounds.  A Negrito  string  made 
of  some  compact  vegetable  fiber,  6 feet  long,  % of  an  inch 
in  diameter,  weighs  three-quarters  of  an  ounce. 

A comparative  test  of  bowstrings  was  made  with 
strands  of  linen,  silk,  and  catgut.  Pieces  of  each  of  these 
substances,  having  a universal  diameter  of  250  microns, 
averaged  the  following  breaking  points : 

Linen  thread  6 pounds 

Silk  thread  414  pounds 

Catgut  4 pounds 

Cotton  thread 314  pounds 

Combining  five  of  these  threads  into  one  string  gave 

the  following  breaking  points : 


Linen  30  pounds 

Silk 24  pounds 

Catgut  - 22  pounds 

Cotton  18  pounds 


Waxing  the  threads  did  not  increase  their  strength. 
Its  use  seems  to  be  to  keep  the  fibers  from  fraying;  to 
reduce  the  diameter,  thus  cutting  down  air  friction,  and 
to  protect  the  fibers  against  moisture. 

Catgut  soaked  in  water  loses  its  tensile  strength. 
Catgut  of  course  is  only  the  elastic  and  fibrous  tissues 
from  the  submucous  coat  of  sheep  intestines.  It  is  iden- 
tical with  the  sinew  of  tendons.  Sinew  strings  do  not 


36 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


hold  their  length  under  tension,  but  stretch  perceptibly, 
and  are  very  susceptible  to  moisture.  Cotton  stretches 
under  strain.  Silk  deteriorates  when  dyed,  with  age,  and 
when  exposed  to  sunlight.  Linen  is  more  durable  than 
silk,  and  never  stretches  after  it  is  once  put  on  the  bow. 
It  is  by  far  the  best  material  for  bow  strings.  Many 
substances  have  been  tried  to  size  or  stitfen  strings,  but 
nothing  seems  so  good  as  wax  having  a small  proportion 
of  resin. 


EZPEEIMENTAL  DATA  ON  BOW  WOOD— 

The  question — what  constitutes  the  best  material  for 
bows? — has  been  answered  in  an  empirical  way  by  the 
usage  of  thousands  of  years.  Of  all  known  woods,  yew 
is  most  resilient  and  elastic.  Many  other  woods,  such  as 
hickory,  bamboo,  and  palma  brava,  will  stand  a great 
deal  of  bending  without  breaking,  but  their  recoil  from 
the  bent  position  is  sluggish  and  weak.  Compared  with 
yew  wood,  spring  steel  is  slow  and  dead.  Experiments 
have  long  ago  shown  that  metal  is  not  fit  for  hand  bows, 
and  even  on  the  crossbow  it  is  poor  material. 

In  the  use  of  yew  we  take  advantage  of  two  qualities 
inherent  in  its  structure.  The  red  or  heart  wood  is 
resilient  and  has  a great  capacity  for  standing  compres- 
sion strain.  This  gives  the  desired  recoil  from  the  bent 
position.  The  white  sapwood  has  the  quality  of  being 
tough,  resistant  to  fracture,  and  of  great  ductile  strength. 
Its  position  on  the  back  of  the  bow  serves  as  a buffer 
against  which  the  red  wood  can  pull,  and  prevents  frac- 
ture, much  as  a sinew  backing  would  do.  The  backing 
of  bows  with  the  fascia,  tendons,  or  hide  of  animals  seems 
to  have  been  an  almost  universal  custom  among  people 
using  coniferous  wood  of  the  temperate  or  arctic  zones. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


37 


The  famous  English  longbow,  from  all  the  evidence 
we  have  at  hand,  was  not  backed  but  was  made  long  for 
the  very  purpose  of  avoiding  backing.  Having  discovered 
the  superior  shooting  qualities  of  the  unbacked  yew,  the 
English  attained  a higher  proficiency  in  archery  than 
their  predecessors.  That  the  early  Saxons  and  Celts  did 
use  short  backed  bows  is  suggested  by  a drawing  by 
A.  DureH®  in  which  an  Irish  archer  is  shown  with  a bow 
not  over  4 feet  long,  having  recurved  ends.  The  arrows 
in  the  picture  are  about  26  inches  long.  It  is  practically 
impossible  to  draw  any  strong  unbacked  bow  to  such  an 
arc  without  fracture.  The  inference,  therefore,  is  that 
this  bow  is  backed. 

Archers  in  the  past  have  ascribed  the  resiliency  of 
their  bows  to  the  white  or  sapwood  of  the  yew.  The 
universal  custom  has  been  to  place  this  sapwood  at  the 
back  of  the  bow  and  have  it  constitute  about  one-quarter 
of  the  thickness.  The  grain  of  the  white  wood  as  well 
as  the  red  is  never  cut  in  the  process  of  bow  making  but 
is  followed  with  great  fidelity.  This  of  course  adds  to  its 
strength.  To  test  whether  the  white  wood  or  red  wood 
of  yew  has  the  more  spring  the  following  experiment  was 
conducted : 

Three  sticks  of  well  seasoned  yew  (four  years)  were 
cut  the  following  dimensions : % by  % by  14  inches : 

No.  1,  pure  white  sapwood. 

No.  2,  coarse  grained  yellow  yew,  16  lines  to  the  inch. 

No.  3,  fine  grained  red  yew,  35  lines  to  the  inch. 

These  were  set  in  a vise  so  that  12  inches  projected.  To 
these  ends  a spring  scale  was  successively  attached  and 
the  wood  drawn  a distance  of  4 inches  from  the  perpen- 
dicular. 


10  Badminton,  p.  142. 


38 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


No.  1 registered  8 pounds. 

No.  2 registered  11  pounds. 

No.  3 registered  14  pounds. 

The  fine-grained  red  yew  is  evidently  strongest.  The 
breaking  point  of  each  was  tested.  Number  1 was  drawn 
12  inches  from  the  straight  line  without  fracture.  In 
fact,  it  was  capable  of  bending  at  right  angles,  without 
breaking.  Number  2 broke  at  6 inches.  Number  3,  when 
drawn  5 inches,  fractured.  The  white  sapwood  is  thus 
shown  to  be  more  elastic  than  brittle.  The  red  wood  is 
brash  and  strong. 

To  test  the  shooting  qualities  of  the  white  and  red 
yew,  two  miniature  bows  were  constructed,  each  22  inches 
long  and  of  the  same  diameters  throughout. 

No.  1,  white  sapwood.  When  drawn  8 inches,  it  ptdled 
8 pounds. 

No.  2,  red  yew  from  the  same  log.  When  dravn  8 inches, 
it  pulled  10  pounds. 

Shooting  a 10-inch  arrow,  weight  % of  an  ounce,  drawing 
each  shot  only  8 inches : 

No.  1 shot  a maximum  flight  of  43  yards. 

No.  2 shot  a maximum  flight  of  63  yards. 

To  test  them,  under  conditions  of  equal  weight,  number  2 
was  reduced  by  shaving  its  limbs  until  it  pulled  8 pounds, 
its  outer  limbs  being  given  a quicker  cast  thereby.  Shoot- 
ing the  same  arrow,  it  now  made  a maximum  cast  of 
66  yards,  demonstrating  the  superior  casting  quality  of 
the  red  wood  over  the  white  when  dra^ving  the  same 
weight. 

Mr.  Will  Thompson,  the  well-known  American  archer, 
at  one  time  had  a bow  constructed  of  several  lamina  of 
white  sapwood  glued  together.  He  hoped  by  this  means 
to  obtain  a bow  of  unusual  cast.  It  is  reported  to  me  by 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


39 


W.  J.  Compton,  who  saw  and  shot  this  bow  in  the  work- 
shop of  Barnes,  the  Oregon  bow  maker,  that  it  was  a 
complete  failure  as  a bow  and  had  a dull,  weak  cast. 

To  test  the  influence  of  backing  on  the  shooting 
quality  of  a bow,  the  small  miniature  of  red  yew  was 
heavily  backed  with  catgut  strands  and  very  thin  raw- 
hide,  set  with  glue.  Before  backing,  the  bow  pulled  8 
pounds  and  shot  66  yards.  After  backing,  the  bow  pulled 
10  pounds  and  shot  63  yards.  It  therefore  appears  that 
the  backing  does  not  add  to  the  cast  of  a bow  but  probably 
only  prevents  it  from  being  broken  when  overdrawn.  As 
a test,  an  arrow  was  drawn  10  inches  on  it  and  under 
these  circumstances  it  shot  85  yards.  When  drawn  12 
inches  it  fractured  straight  across  the  handle. 


40 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


ARROWS 

PENETEATION  OP  AREOWS— 

The  question  of  the  penetrating  effect  of  arrows  shot 
from  the  bows  of  aboriginal  peoples  and  ancient  archers 
has  caused  considerable  speculation.  We  all  have  heard 
of  the  wonderful  deeds  of  past  heroes  with  the  bow,  but 
very  few  accurate  data  are  extant.  A few  of  the  state- 
ments of  historians  are  as  follows : 

Giraldus  Cambrensis,  writing  in  the  twelfth  century, 
relates  that  a Welsh  archer,  shooting  at  two  men  who 
were  fleeing  toward  a tower  for  refuge,  missed  his  mark, 
and  that  two  arrows  penetrated  right  through  the  oak 
gate,  which  was  almost  a palm  in  thickness.^ 

In  the  journal  of  King  Edward  occurs  the  follow- 
ing entry : 

May  14th,  1550.  There  mustered  before  me  a hundred 
archers,  two  arrows  apiece,  all  of  the  guard;  afterwards  shot 
together,  and  they  shot  at  an  inch  Board,  which  some  pierced 
quite,  and  stuck  on  the  outer  board ; divers  pierced  it  quite 
through  with  the  Heads  of  their  arrows,  the  boards  being  very 
well  seasoned  timber. 

Hansard^®  quotes  some  Spanish  historian,  probably 
DeLery,  to  the  effect  that  one  of  the  early  explorers  in 
Florida,  wishing  to  test  the  power  of  the  native  archerj’, 
offered  a young  Indian  captive  his  liberty  if  he  could 
shoot  an  arrow  through  a coat  of  mail.  The  garment  was 
hung  on  a wicker  basket  and  the  Indian,  standing  150 


11  “Itinerarium  Cambriar”  quoted  in  Badminton,  p.  430. 

12  Badminton,  p.  431.  i3  P.  22. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


41 


paces  distant,  shot  a flint-headed  reed  clean  through  the 
armor.  A second  coat  of  mail  was  placed  over  the  first, 
and  the  Indian  shot  an  arrow  with  great  force  through 
both.  After  this  the  Spaniards  held  their  armor  in  con- 
tempt, and  devised  a protection  of  felt  or  padded  cloth 
which  shielded  them  and  their  horses  much  better  than 
chain  or  steel  corselets. 

C.  J.  Longman,  the  modem  English  archer,  conducted 
a few  experiments  with  the  following  results : An  Eng- 
lish target  arrow,  %6  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  weighing 
1 ounce,  made  of  pine,  footed  with  beefwood  and  tipped 
with  a conical  steel  pile  an  inch  long,  shot  from  a 65- 
pound  bow  at  7 yards,  penetrated  an  oak  board  1 inch 
in  thickness  so  that  its  point  projected  through  the  wood, 
or  a total  depth  of  2 inches. 

A similar  shaft,  armed  with  a long  spear-shaped  steel 
point,  5%  inches  in  length,  % of  an  inch  wide,  weighing 
1%  ounces,  shot  from  a 65-pound  bow,  penetrated  4% 
pads  or  140  sheets  of  Pettit’s  field  gun  penetration  pads. 
Each  pad  consists  of  45  sheets  of  heavy  brown  paper. 
A good  penetration  for  a 14-gauge  shotgun  charged  with 
powder  and  shot  is  35  sheets.^^ 

VELOCITY  OF  AEEOWS— 

In  trying  to  standardize  the  factors  which  enter  into 
the  problem  of  the  velocity  of  arrows,  I first  determined 
a standard  velocity  by  shooting  100  yards,  on  a calm  day, 
and  timing  the  flight  with  a shot  watch. 

Ishi,  shooting  his  45-pound  bow  with  a 1-ounce  hunt- 
ing arrow,  required  an  elevation  of  30°,  and  the  time 
required  for  the  flight  is  3 seconds.  Mr.  Arthur  Young, 
shooting  a 50-pound  bow  with  a 345-grain  English  target 


Badminton,  p.  432. 


42 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


arrow,  requires  an  elevation  of  15°  and  2%  seconds  of 
time.  Mr.  W.  J.  Compton,  shooting  a 65-pound  how  with 
a 345-grain  flight  arrow,  requires  8°  elevation  and  2/i 
seconds  of  time,  or  a velocity  of  125  feet  per  second.  Mr. 
Compton,  shooting  a 50-pound  bow  with  an  English  tar- 
get arrow,  at  40  yards,  requires  approximately  1 second, 
or  a velocity  of  120  feet  per  second.  This  latter  figure 
seems  to  be  a fair  average  of  an  arrow’s  velocity.  Shoot- 
ing a 75-pound  bow  with  a 310-grain  flight  arrow  at  45 
yards,  the  time  is  approximately  1 second,  or  135  feet 
per  second. 

STEIKING  FOECE  OF  AEEOWS— 

In  attempting  to  determine  the  striking  force  of  an 
arrow  I utilized  one  of  the  measures  employed  by  rifle- 
men in  estimating  the  penetration  of  bullets,  and  used  as 
a target  a large  cake  of  paraffin  2 X 12  X 24  inches,  with 
a melting  point  of  54°  C.  To  determine  the  striking  force 
of  an  arrow,  I discharged  at  this  target  arrows  of  various 
diameters,  weights,  and  points,  and  the  distance  which 
they  penetrated  was  measured  from  the  extreme  point  to 
the  face  of  the  paraffin  slab.  This  method  was  used,  first, 
to  ascertain  the  striking  force ; secondly,  the  penetration 
under  varying  conditions,  such  as  weight,  shape  of  head, 
size  of  feathers. 

To  establish  a control,  a birch  dowel  3 inches  long  and 
%6  of  an  inch  in  diameter  was  loosely  set  in  a hole 
through  a board  and  held  perpendicular  on  the  face  of 
this  slab  of  paraffin.  A 10-pound  weight  was  dropped 
on  this  blunt  dowel,  from  distances  of  1,  2,  and  3 feet. 
A fall  of  1 foot  drove  the  blunt  pin  ^ inch  deep  in  the 
paraffin.  A drop  of  2 feet  drove  it  1 inch  deep,  and  a 
drop  of  3 feet  drove  it  1^  inches. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


43 


The  foregoing  and  all  the  following  experiments  were 
conducted  at  room  temperature  of  about  30°  C.  It  may 
therefore  be  assumed  roughly  that  a bow  which  drives 
a %6  inch  blunt  shaft  1 inch  into  paraffin  under  these 
conditions  has  a striking  force  of  20  foot  pounds,  or 
approximately  10  pounds  for  every  14  inch  penetration. 

To  measure  the  striking  force  of  a 50-pound  bow,  an 
arrow  made  of  a %6  inch  dowel,  having  a similar  blunt 
head,  and  weighing  1 ounce,  was  shot  at  this  paraffin 
block  at  a distance  of  10  feet.  It  penetrated  just  1 inch, 
or  had  a striking  force  of  20  foot  pounds. 

A 75-pound  bow,  shooting  the  same  arrow  from  10 
feet,  drove  it  in  114  inches,  or  approximately  25  foot 
pounds. 

This  measurement  may  be  taken  as  the  maximum 
striking  force  of  an  arrow  from  the  average  English  long- 
bow, or  the  arrow  of  many  Indian  hunting  bows.  It  is, 
of  course,  insignificant  when  compared  with  the  striking 
force  of  a high  powered  rifle  bullet,  that  is,  2445  foot 
pounds  and  2700  foot  seconds  of  the  U.  S.  Springfield 
rifle;  and  yet,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  the  damage  done 
by  an  arrow  may  be  quite  as  fatal  as  that  done  by  a bullet. 

To  test  whether  a heavy  missile  strikes  a greater  blow 
than  a light  one,  an  arrow  weighing  114  ounces,  having 
a diameter  of  %6  inch,  blunt  at  the  end,  was  shot  from  a 
50-pound  bow.  It  penetrated  114  inches  in  the  paraffin, 
or  had  a striking  force  of  22^2  foot  pounds.  Increased 
weight  of  missile  evidently  results  in  increased  penetra- 
tion. This  statement  probably  holds  good  only  up  to 
certain  limits,  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  define  at 
present. 

A similar  arrow  weighing  1%  ounces,  having  a blunt 
end  % inch  in  diameter,  shot  from  a 50-pound  bow,  pene- 
trated the  paraffin  only  % of  an  inch. 


44 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


CHAEACTEEISTIC  FEATUEBS  OF  AEEOWS— 

Having  the  measurements  of  the  striking  force  of  an 
arrow,  it  next  is  of  interest  to  learn  what  type  of  arrow 
will  best  penetrate  solid  matter — which  type  will  do  most 
damage  as  a weapon  of  destruction.  The  features  of 
an  arrow  that  figure  in  this  respect  are  its  weight,  its 
feather,  and  its  point.  The  weight  lies  in  the  length, 
diameter  of  the  shaft,  and  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
wood.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  best  arrow  shafts 
are  about  a yard  or  less  in  length  and  from  %6  to  inch 
in  diameter.  They  must  be  thick  enough  to  be  rigid. 
Many  different  woods  have  been  used  in  their  construc- 
tion. Practically  all  Indian  shafts  of  the  better  sort  are 
universally  %6  in  diameter  or  less,  while  some  of  the 
rougher  and  more  formidable  of  the  war  or  heavy  hunt- 
ing arrows  approximate  ^ inch.  Yaqui  arrows  are  of 
this  diameter;  so  are  Chinese  and  old  English  war 
arrows.  Still,  this  amount  of  wood  seldom  weighs  more 
than  two  ounces  and  generally  less. 

EXPEEIMENTS  IN  EIGIDITY  OF  AEEOWS— 


To  furnish  data  on  this  subject,  the  following  arrows 
loaned  by  Joseph  Jessop  were  measured  and  tested  as  to 
rigidity : 


Name 

Length 
over  all 

Weight 

Maximum 

diameter 

Rigidity  tost : 
pounds  pressure  upon 
nock  necessary  to 
spring  arrow  inch 
out  of  line 

Apache 

25  inches 

320  grams 

K inch 

5 pounds 

Osage 

32  inches 

320  grams 

inch 

5 pounds 

Cree 

29  inches 

255  grams 

inch 

5 pounds 

Cheyenne 

24  inches 

315  grams 

11/32  inch 

15  pounds 

Blackfoot 

24  inches 

320  grams 

11/32  inch 

16  pounds- 

Sioux 

20  inches 

310  grams 

5/16  inch 

16  pounds 

Tomawata 

24  inches 

300  grams 

5/16  inch 

10  pounds 

A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


45 


Rigidity  is  an  essential  feature  of  an  arrow  for  the 
reason  that  the  force  of  the  bowstring  exerted  upon  the 
nock  must  be  transmitted  along  its  axis  in  a direct  line, 
without  lateral  dispersion,  if  the  missile  is  to  obtain 
maximum  momentum. 

Aboriginal  shafts  are  universally  small  straight  limbs 
of  shrubs,  or  reeds,  having  a concentric  laminated  cross- 
section,  which  is  well  calculated  to  stand  longitudinal 
pressure  and  remain  rigid.  The  woods  that  were  recog- 
nizable were : dogwood  {Cornus  Nuttallii) ; hazel;  service- 
berry  {Amelanchier  alfiifolia) ; arrow  wood  {Pluchea 
sericea).  Seldom  if  ever  is  any  attempt  made  to  employ 
split  timber  in  their  manufacture.  The  better  developed 
methods  of  arrow  making,  however,  make  use  of  split 
timber,  which  is  later  planed  and  turned  into  cylindrical 
shafts.  A test  of  the  rigidity  of  this  type  of  arrow  shaft 
resulted  as  follows : 


Wood 

Length 

Diameter 

Pressure  necessary 
to  spring  shaft  34  inch 
out  of  straight  line 

Willow 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

10  pounds 

Red  pine 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

12  pounds 

English  red  deal 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

14  pounds 

Douglas  fir 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

14  pounds 

Birch,  white 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

15  pounds 

Bamboo 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

16  pounds 

Ash 

28  inches 

5/16  inch 

16  pounds 

Red  hickory  (Thompson  hunt- 
ing arrow) 

28  inches 

11/32  inch 

15  pounds 

Maple 

28  inches 

11/32  inch 

18  pounds 

Mahogany  (Manila) 

28  inches 

^ inch 

24  pounds 

Hickory  (McChesney  hunting 
arrow) 

28  inches 

^ inch 

30  pounds 

Birch 

28  inches 

^ inch 

30  pounds 

Douglas  fir 

28  inches 

^ inch 

32  pounds 

Birch,  well  seasoned 

28  inches 

^ inch 

35  pounds 

Hickory,  fine  red  grained 

28  inches 

^ inch 

40  pounds 

46 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


AEEOW  FEATHEES— 

The  American  Indian  used  a variety  of  feathers  on 
his  arrows.  Those  preferred  seem  to  be  eagle,  hawk, 
buzzard,  goose,  heron,  flicker,  woodpecker.  The  Japanese 
and  Chinese  employ  a fine  grade  of  feather,  apparently 
a fish  hawk,  also  a goose  and  pheasant.  The  arrows  of 
South  America  have  gaily  colored  feathers  of  parrots. 

Methods  of  feathering . — Practically  all  arrows  have 
three  feathers.  The  popular  opinion  of  the  uninitiated 
is  that  they  have  but  two  because  the  older  illustrations 
showed  only  this  number.  It  may  be  stated  that  the  only 
good  arrows  that  have  two  feathers  are  on  weather  vanes. 

The  ancient  Saxons  seem  to  have  used  four  feathers, 
according  to  the  findings  in  the  Nydam  Galleys.^®  These 
were  bound  to  the  shaft  with  linen  thread  saturated  with 
pitch,  a method  calculated  to  stand  water.  Ancient  flight 
arrows  not  infrequently  had  many  feathers  attached 
to  them,  apparently  in  the  vain  belief  that  a feather 
lightens  an  arrow,  while  in  fact  it  only  adds  friction  to 
one  end. 

The  process  of  binding  the  entire  length  of  the  feather 
by  a spiral  thread  is  well  illustrated  in  the  picture  of  the 
English  archer  shovm  in  plate  1.  Here  the  thread  not 
only  binds  the  extremities  of  the  feather  but  runs  up  the 
shaft  between  the  barbs  and  binds  the  stem  fast  to  the 
shaft.  Silk,  saturated  with  verdigris,  seems  to  have  been 
the  popular  material  for  this  purpose. 

American  Indians  use  sinew,  which  has  a glue  con- 
tent, to  bind  their  feathers,  but  no  attempt  is  made  to 
glue  the  rib  of  the  feather  to  the  shaft.  This  unstable 
condition  of  the  feather  permits  of  greater  irregularity 
in  flight. 


15  Archers  ’ Eegister  for  1912,  p.  241. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


47 


Experience  has  shown  also  that  the  stripped  feather, 
or  that  whose  rib  is  scraped  very  thin,  is  not  so  good  as 
that  which  has  been  carefully  cut  with  a knife.  The  latter 
stands  up  straighter  and  endures  the  rough  usage. 

Kiowa  arrows  (pi.  11,  figs.  1,  2,  3)  are  typical  game 
or  war  arrows.  It  was  not  a universal  custom  among 
Indians  to  have  the  heads  of  the  big  game  arrows  lance- 
shaped with  the  idea  that  they  could  be  drawn  out  better. 
A barbed  head  can  be  forced  through  in  the  process  of 
extracting  it.  These  Kiowa  arrows  when  shot  fiy  very 
poorly  after  25  yards,  which  may  be  assumed  to  have 
been  their  hunting  distance. 

The  feathers,  of  course,  are  simply  for  air  friction, 
to  keep  the  rear  end  of  the  shaft  in  the  line  of  progress 
of  the  point,  and  to  give  rotation  or  stability  to  the  arrow 
while  in  flight.  This  is  invariably  accomplished  by 
placing  three  feathers  from  the  same  wing  on  an  arrow. 
Their  warped  contours  act  as  revolving  planes  and  estab- 
lish an  axial  rotation.  Some  aboriginal  arrows  have  a 
spiral  arrangement  of  feathers  to  assist  this  motion.  But 
this  is  an  unnecessary  exaggeration  and  retards  the 
velocity  and  striking  force  of  the  arrow,  as  is  shown  in 
the  following  experiment. 

Experiment  in  feather  friction. — A 436-grain  target 
arrow  with  the  regulation  feathering  2i/^  inches  long  cut 
in  a parabolic  curve  i/^  inch  high,  has  a friction  area  of 
approximately  1 square  inch  to  each  feather,  or  three 
feathers  on  an  arrow  present  a friction  surface  of  3 
square  inches.  The  diameter  of  the  shaft  is  %6  of  an 
inch,  and  the  head  or  pile  is  shown  in  plate  10,  fig.  2,  and 
plate  13,  fig.  4.  This  typical  English  target  arrow,  shot 
from  a 50-pound  bow  at  the  paraffin  block,  penetrated  the 
following  distances: 


48 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


At  10  yards,  penetration inches 

At  20  yards,  penetration 1%6  inches 

At  30  yards,  penetration 1 inch 

At  40  yards,  penetration inch 

At  50  yards,  penetration - iyi6  inch 


The  same  shaft  feathered  with  heavy  feathers  1 inch 
wide  and  3 inches  long,  giving  a total  area  of  9 square 
inches,  shot  at  the  paraffin  block  with  the  same  bow,  are 
the  following  penetration: 


10  yards,  penetration inch 

20  yards,  penetration inch 

30  yards,  penetration mch 

40  yards,  penetration %6  inch 

50  yards,  penetration inch 


The  loss  of  penetration  evidently  amounts  to  almost 
50  per  cent  and  is  due  to  the  increased  air  friction  with 
diminished  velocity. 

These  feathers  had  a perceptible  spiral  arrangement, 
and  visibly  slowed  the  flight  of  the  arrow  to  a speed  of 
approximately  110  feet  per  second.  Such  arrows  are  use- 
ful for  killing  small  game  at  short  distances,  because  they 
are  very  accurate  in  their  flight  and  soon  lose  their  speed 
after  striking  the  ground,  grass,  or  brush,  owing  to  the 
friction  presented  to  the  air.  Maurice  Thompson  has 
named  this  type  of  arrow  (pi.  12,  fig.  10)  a “fluflu” 
because  a Florida  Indian  friend  had  a favorite  arrow 
of  this  sort  which  made  this  characteristic  sound  during 
flight.^® 

The  speed  of  rotation  given  an  arrow  varies  according 
to  the  size  and  concavity  of  the  feathers.  It  is  more  rapid 
in  target  arrows  than  in  heavy  shafts,  for  hea^w  heads 
require  more  feather  surface  to  turn  them  than  do  cylin- 
drical points. 


16  Witchery  of  Archery. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


49 


It  is  obvious  that  to  deliver  the  greatest  blow  the 
arrow  should  strike  with  its  long  axis  in  the  line  of  direct 
motion.  An  arrow  wavering  or  tumbling  from  improper 
feathering  loses  in  velocity  and  striking  force.  An  arrow 
should  have  air  resistance  in  proper  proportion  to  its 
weight.  Excessive  resistance  means  loss  of  striking 
force. 

EXPEEIMENT  IN  AEEOW  EOTATION— 

To  ascertain  the  rate  of  arrow  rotation  in  flight,  the 
following  experiment  was  performed: 

Two  arrows  having  similar  feathering  were  joined  by 
a yard  of  coarse  silk  thread,  so  arranged  that  the  revolu- 
tion of  one  took  up  the  slack  of  the  thread  paid  off  by  the 
revolution  of  the  second.  They  were  shot  at  a sand  bank 
simultaneously  from  the  same  bow,  one  above  the  other, 
by  which  means  it  could  be  determined  how  many  revo- 
lutions each  arrow  performed. 

From  a 50-pound  bow  with  English  target  arrows 
three  revolutions  were  made  in  10  yards  and  six  revolu- 
tions in  20  yards.  Some  arrows  failed  to  make  this  num- 
ber and  registered  only  3i/^  revolutions  to  20  yards. 

For  two  of  Ishi ’s  hunting  arrows,  the  highest  average 
at  20  yards  was  4^  revolutions  from  a 50-pound  bow. 
My  own  heavily  feathered  hunting  arrows  from  the  same 
bow  at  20  yards  averaged  4 revolutions. 

It  may  therefore  be  stated  that  an  English  target 
arrow  shot  from  a 50-pound  bow  traveling  at  a rate  of 
120  feet  per  second,  revolves  at  a rate  of  once  every  3% 
yards,  or  approximately  12  times  per  second.  It  was 
very  apparent  in  conducting  this  test,  and  in  shooting  in 
general,  that  some  individual  arrows,  due  to  peculiarities 
or  fault  of  feathering,  do  not  rotate  thus  rapidly  nor 
evenly,  and  some  not  at  all. 


50 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


In  testing  many  aboriginal  arrows,  the  irregularity 
of  their  rotation  and  flight  is  a striking  expose  of  the 
crudity  of  their  construction.  Arrows  having  feathers 
all  from  one  wing  of  the  bird  and  properly  placed  on 
the  shaft  always  rotate  toward  the  convex  side  of  the 
feathers.  A single  feather  from  the  opposite  wing  may 
prevent  this  rotation. 

DIFFEEENT  AEROWHEADS  AND  THEIR  PENETRATION— 

The  character  of  the  head  on  an  arrow  must  also 
influence  its  penetration.  For  tests  from  this  standpoint, 
a series  of  arrows  with  different  shaped  heads  was 
employed.  These  are  shown  in  plate  13,  and  may  be 
described  as  follows: 

No.  1,  a 28-inch  arrow,  %6  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
made  of  ash;  weight,  1 ounce;  feathered  with  standard 
hunting  type  of  feathers;  blunt  point;  used  principally 
in  the  paraffln  penetration  test. 

No.  2,  a blunt  hunting  arrow,  % of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
28  inches  in  length;  a inch  round  headed  screw  for 
point ; bound  with  soldered  iron  wire.  A very  useful  and 
durable  arrow  for  killing  small  game. 

No.  3,  a blunt  hunting  arrow,  28  inches  long,  inch 
in  diameter,  hickory;  weight,  114  ounces;  feathered  heav- 
ily with  balloon-shaped  feathers ; empty  38  caliber  pistol 
shell  for  pile. 

No.  4,  a standard  English  target  arrow;  %6  inch 
diameter;  snakewood  footing  spliced  on  end;  stele  of  red 
pine;  small  balloon  target  feathers;  weight,  5 shillings, 
or  approximately  436  grains. 

No.  5,  target  or  roving  arrow.  Birch  dowel,  %6  inch 
diameter;  28  inches  long;  aluminum  nock;  small  balloon 
feathers ; weight,  1 ounce ; conical  point,  made  of  a U.  S. 
army  Springfield  30  caliber  bullet  jacket. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


51 


No.  6,  small  bodkin  hunting  arrow;  %6  inch  diameter; 
birch  dowel;  29  inches  long,  shaft  feathered  by  Ishi  in 
typical  shape ; weight,  li/4  ounces ; point  made  of  tapered 
square  spike  set  in  a piece  of  brass  tubing.  Is  copy  of 
small  Greek  bodkin. 

No.  7,  heavy  bodkin  point;  shaft  has  % inch  diameter; 
28  inches  long;  heavy  hunting  type  of  feathers ; point  is  a 
very  heavy  tempered  steel  reamer  set  in  steel  tubing  of 
% inch  diameter  by  a shank  and  rivet.  This  is  almost 
an  exact  copy  of  the  old  English  war  bodkin  point  taken 
from  the  drawings  made  by  Hastings.^^  The  entire 
weight  of  this  arrow  is  2%  ounces,  and  it  represents  the 
most  formidable  missile  in  the  group  under  considera- 
tion. The  bodkin  point  was  devised  to  penetrate  steel 
armor,  and  in  England  it  supplanted  the  broadhead  after 
protective  devices  came  into  general  use.  Such  a heavy 
shaft  can  be  shot  only  from  the  most  powerful  bows. 

Nos.  8 and  9,  Ishi  arrows;  birch  shafts  %6  inch  diam- 
eter; 30  inches  long;  feathered  hunting  style.  The  points 
are  flaked  obsidian  1%  inches  long  and  % inch  wide,  set 
in  resin  and  bound  with  sinew.  Their  weight  is  420 
grains. 

No.  10,  spear-pointed  war  arrow.  Shaft  of  % inch 
birch;  28  inches  long;  heavy  hunting  feathers;  point  of 
heavy  lance-shaped  steel,  2 inches  long,  % inch  wide,  lie 
inch  thick,  set  in  a heavy  brass  tubing  for  a socket,  with 
solder.  It  is  built  on  the  lines  of  Greek  and  Japanese 
war  arrows.  Weight,  2 ounces. 

No  11,  blunt  barbed  arrow;  called  a squirrel  arrow; 
% inch  birch  shaft;  28  inches  long;  hunting  feathers; 
weight,  iy2  ounces ; point  a blunt  lance  shape  with  short 
barbs.  An  instrument  useful  in  shooting  rabbits,  squir- 
rels, and  game  that  tend  to  carry  off  a shaft.  The  barbs 
hold  the  quarry  until  the  hunter  secures  it. 


17  The  British  Archer. 


52 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


No.  12,  an  IsM  steel  head.  In  all  respects  the  same 
as  Nos.  8 and  9,  only  having  a steel  head  of  his  modem 
adaptation,  1%  inches  long  by  % inch  wide ; bound  on  the 
shaft  with  sinew.  Weight,  1 ounce. 

Nos.  13  and  14,  deer  arrows,  or  heavy  hunting  shafts 
of  my  make,  of  % inch  birch,  28  inches  long;  hunting 
feathers;  steel  heads  barbed;  li/^  to  3 inches  long  by  1 to 
11/4  inches  wide;  riveted  and  soldered  in  a shaft  of  steel 
tubing.  They  are  a counterpart  of  the  English  broad- 
head;  weight,  iy2  ounces.  The  head  alone  weighs  as 
much  as  half  an  ounce. 

No.  15,  a replica  of  the  English  war  arrow  shown  in 
an  old  painting  (pi.  1)  in  the  Museum  of  Anthropology, 
San  Francisco.  The  subject  is  probably  St.  Sebastian, 
painted  in  Italy  about  the  fifteenth  century.  It  represents 
an  English  crusader  with  his  longbow  and  broad-headed 
arrow.  Taking  comparative  measurements  of  the  picture 
with  the  assumption  that  this  archer  shot  a 6-foot  bow^, 
the  dimensions  of  this  arrow  are  as  follows:  Length  of 
shaft,  35  inches;  diameter,  % inch;  length  of  head,  3i/^ 
inches;  breadth,  2^^  inches;  length  of  feathers,  9 inches; 
height,  iy2  inches.  The  weight  of  the  copy  is  3 ounces, 
and  it  probably  represents  the  famous  English  broad 
head,  a yard  long.  The  weight  of  the  head  alone  is  a 
trifle  over  1 ounce.  It  seems  likely  that  such  miniature 
javelins  actually  were  shot  by  exceedingly  long-armed 
and  strong  men,  hut  as  a rule  three-quarters  of  the 
standard  (as  referred  to  in  the  Fifth  Act  of  Edward  IV, 
chapter  4,  as  follows)  ■was  the  average  arrow  of  the 
times : 

Every  Englishman,  and  Irishman  dwelling  with  Englishmen, 
and  speaking  English,  being  between  sixteen  and  sixty  years  of 
age,  is  commanded  to  pro’vdde  himself  ■with  an  English  bow  of 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


53 


his  own  length,  and  one  fist  mele  at  least,  between  the  nocks, 
with  twelve  shafts  of  the  length  of  three  quarters  of  the 
Standard/® 

No  doubt  many  men  tried  to  shoot  arrows  far  too  long 
for  them,  even  as  Ishi  made  great  heavy  shafts  for  show 
and  war  purposes  that  he  could  not  properly  discharge 
from  any  bow  he  ever  shot.  It  was  probably  considered 
a sign  of  prowess  to  shoot  a long  shaft.  This  English 
war  arrow  is  too  heavy  and  cumbersome  to  shoot  from 
any  bow  I can  command.  Even  with  an  85-pound  bow,  its 
flight  is  only  112  yards.  The  bow  in  the  picture  does  not 
pull  over  75  pounds,  and  being  apparently  not  over  6 feet 
long,  it  is  incapable  of  having  a 36-inch  arrow  drawn  to 
the  head  without  breaking. 

Waring,  the  old  English  bowyer  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, speaking  of  a 28-inch  arrow,  said,  “A  bow  full 
drawn  is  seven-eighths  broken.”  The  English  target 
bow  of  today  invariably  will  fracture  if  drawn  30  inches. 
And  it  is  true  that  yew,  the  most  resilient  and  elastic 
wood  in  the  world,  will  not  stand  an  arc  greater  than  120 
degrees,  and  usually  is  not  drawn  more  than  105  degrees. 
To  draw  a yard  shaft  on  a strong  6-foot  bow  would  re- 
quire an  arc  of  180  degrees.  This  is  impossible  without 
sinew  backing,  which  the  English  did  not  use.  Bows 
6 feet  6 inches,  however,  can  stand  the  strain. 

These  arrows  shot  from  a 50-pound  bow  at  10  yards, 
each  one  being  drawn  28  inches  and  released  with  equal 
technique,  penetrated  the  paraffin  block  as  follows : 

No.  1,  blunt  point,  penetrated  1 inch. 

No.  4,  target  point,  penetrated  1%  inches. 

No.  5,  conical  point,  penetrated  1%  inches. 

No.  6,  small  bodkin,  penetrated  2 inches. 

No.  12,  Ishi  steel  point,  penetrated  214  inches. 


18  Quoted  by  Hansard  on  Arebery,  p.  379. 


54 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


The  heavier  arrows  shot  from  a 75-pound  how  at  10 
yards  penetrated  the  paraffin  as  follows : 


No.  1,  blunt  114  inches 

No.  2,  heavy  blunt  1%  inches 

No.  3,  blunt  point  1%6  inches 

No.  5,  conical  point  214  inches 

No.  7,  heavy  bodkin 4 inches 

No.  10,  spear  point 3%  inches 

No.  11,  squirrel  point  114  inches 

No.  12,  Ishi  steel  head 214  inches 

No.  13,  deer  arrow 2%  inches 


In  order  to  test  their  penetration  in  wood,  I shot  at  a 
% inch  fir  board,  green  and  very  hard,  using  a 75-pound 
bow,  10  yards  distant.  No.  3 drove  its  point  halfway 
through  the  board  and  split  out  a large  segment  of  wood. 
No.  7,  the  large  bodkin  point,  repeatedly  split  the  12  by 
24  inch  plank,  and  on  being  shot  at  similar  boards  of 
greater  length,  its  point  went  3 inches  through,  measured 
from  the  proximal  face  of  the  board.  Shot  into  a pine 
block,  it  penetrated  2 inches;  into  a eucalyptus  tree,  it 
penetrated  3 inches,  including  the  thin  bark. 

No.  10,  spearhead,  entered  parallel  with  the  grain  and 
penetrated  314  inches  (see  pi.  15,  fig.  3). 

No.  13,  deer  arrow,  entering  crosswise  with  the  grain, 
penetrated  114  inches  (see  pi.  15,  fig.  2). 

No.  3,  a blunt  point,  shot  against  a piece  of  dry 
seasoned  redwood  {Sequoia  sempervirens)  % inch  thick, 
penetrated  completely  through  and  stuck  out  a foot  be- 
yond. A segment  was  fractured  from  the  rear  surface 
of  the  board  at  the  point  of  exit  (see  pi.  15,  fig.  1). 

In  no  instance  did  an  arrow  penetrate,  head,  shaft, 
and  feathers,  through  an  inch  board.  Where  half-inch 
pine  was  shot  at,  the  heav^^  blunt  arrow  and  the  bodkin 
point  both  pierced  the  wood  going  completely  through; 
the  broadhead  offers  too  much  friction  to  do  this. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARKOWS 


55 


COMPAEATIVE  PENETEATION  OF  STEEL  AND  OBSIDIAN  HEADS 

To  ascertain  which  type  of  arrow  is  most  effective  in 
entering  animal  tissue,  I constructed  a box  12  by  12 
inches  square  and  4 inches  deep,  having  open  sides.  On 
these  sides  I tacked  tanned  deer  hide,  hair  side  out.  The 
interior  of  this  box  was  filled  with  a bovine  liver.  Thus 
we  had  a structure  simulating  an  animal’s  flank,  hair,  and 
skin  externally,  with  homogenous  dense  tissue  internally, 
which  could  be  utilized  to  measure  the  comparative  pene- 
tration of  arrows  with  some  degree  of  accuracy.  Shoot- 
ing a 35-pound  bow  at  a distance  of  10  yards,  the  selected 
arrows  penetrated  as  follows  (pi.  13) : 

Nos.  1,  2,  3,  and  4 did  not  penetrate  the  first  hide,  but  bounced 
off. 

No.  5,  conical  point,  entered  4 inches,  or  to  the  second  hide. 

No.  6,  small  bodkin,  penetrated  12  inches. 

No.  8,  obsidian  point,  penetrated  28  inches. 

No.  9,  a trifle  broader  obsidian  point,  penetrated  30  inches. 
This  experiment  was  repeated  with  the  same  result. 

An  obsidian  point  similar  to  No.  8 penetrated  first  hide  and 
4 inches  of  liver,  and  broke  on  the  second  hide,  abruptly  stop- 
ping with  4 inches  penetrated. 

No.  11,  squirrel,  penetrated  4 inches. 

No.  12,  Ishi  steelhead,  2 trials,  21  inches  and  18  inches. 

No.  00,  Ishi  steeUiead,  similar  to  above,  but  made  extra 
sharp  by  filing,  penetrated  22  inches. 

No.  13,  deer  arrow,  penetrated  14  inches. 

Repeating  the  experiment  with  a 50-pound  bow  at 
10  yards,  the  results  were  as  follows : 

No.  2,  blunt,  reboimds. 

No.  4,  target  point,  rebounds. 

No.  5,  conical  point,  enters  4 inches. 

No.  6,  small  bodkin,  enters  25  inches. 

No.  9,  Ishi  obsidian,  goes  completely  through. 


56 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


No.  11,  squirrel,  enters  4 inehes. 

Nos.  13  and  14,  deer  arrows,  go  completely  through. 

No.  15,  English  war  arrow,  goes  completely  through. 

A 75-pound  bow  shoots  the  heavy  bodkin,  the  deer 
arrows,  and  the  English  war  arrow  completely  through. 

From  this  experiment  it  is  apparent  that  blunt  arrows 
will  not  penetrate  a yielding  elastic  body  of  this  sort, 
though  we  know  from  experience  in  hunting  that  they  do 
pass  through  small  animals,  such  as  the  squirrel,  rabhit, 
and  fox,  passing  through  either  the  abdomen  or  chest. 
Here,  of  course,  the  bony  skeleton  stiffens  the  yielding 
tissues  and  favors  a puncture.  It  is  also  apparent  that 
bodkin  points  are  not  etfective  in  penetrating  soft  animal 
tissues,  but  that  a cutting  edge  is  necessary,  and  that  the 
broadhead  has  greater  penetrating  properties  because  it 
cuts  a path  that  relieves  friction  on  the  following  shaft. 

The  most  striking  phenomenon  is  the  great  superior- 
ity of  the  obsidian  point  in  cutting  animal  tissue.  Arrows 
Nos.  8,  9,  and  12  are  identical  in  weight,  feathering,  and 
size  of  head,  yet  the  steelheads,  even  when  sharpened  to 
a keen  cutting  edge,  do  not  approach  the  penetration  of 
the  obsidian  by  25  per  cent.  Doubtless  the  better  cutting 
qualities  of  glass,  combined  with  the  concoidal  edge  of 
the  obsidian  point,  give  this  superiority.  The  same  prin- 
ciple is  used  in  modern  bread  knives  and  roller  bandage 
knives;  here  a rough  wavy  edge  cuts  better  than  does  a 
straight  sharp  edge. 

PENETRATION  OF  THE  BODKIN  POINT — 

To  test  the  ability  of  the  hea^^  bodkin  pointed  arrow 
to  penetrate  armor,  I discharged  it  from  a 75-pound  bow 
at  a distance  of  10  yards,  against  a brass  plate  lie  inch 
thick,  having  a piece  of  pine  board  at  the  back.  It 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


57 


entered  to  the  depth  of  inches.  Without  the  wood  in 
back  it  must  have  gone  through  to  a greater  depth.  This 
brass  is  the  thickness  of  an  old  Roman  bronze  breast- 
plate^® in  the  Museum  of  Anthropology. 

To  test  the  penetration  of  arrows  in  soft  yielding  sub- 
stance, half  a pound  of  raw  cotton  was  made  into  a pad 
12  inches  square  and  1 inch  thick,  when  compressed.  This 
was  covered  with  muslin  and  fastened  to  a box  composed 
of  white  pine  ^ inch  thick.  Three  broadhead  arrows  of 
the  type  of  figure  14  of  plate  13,  were  shot  at  it  with  a 
75-pound  how  from  a distance  of  10  yards.  Each  arrow 
penetrated  the  cotton  and  went  3 inches  beyond  the  sur- 
face of  the  board.  The  heavy  bodkin  pointed  arrow  went 
6 inches  through  the  pad  and  board,  showing  that  cotton 
alone  would  not  constitute  effective  armor. 

The  same  bodkin  arrow  from  the  same  bow,  striking 
a tempered  steel  saw  blade  %2  inch  in  thickness,  split  the 
steel  and  penetrated  the  wooden  hackpiece  to  a depth  of 
1 inch.  Shooting  it  against  a piece  of  cold  drawn  soft 
steel  Vie  inch  thick,  the  bodkin  point  penetrated  i/^  inch, 
then  because  of  its  high  temper  broke  squarely  off  at  the 
plate.  To  test  this  bodkin  point  on  armor,  I selected  a 
suit  of  chain  mail,  probably  made  in  Damascus  about  the 
sixteenth  century.  It  is  composed  of  interlocking  steel 
links  about  % inch  in  diameter,  the  caliber  of  wire  being 
approximately  no.  22  gauge.  Each  link  is  welded  and 
connects  with  four  others.  Over  the  chest  and  hack  these 
links  are  heavier  than  elsewhere.  The  entire  suit  weighs 
25  pounds.  A form  to  represent  the  human  chest  was 
constructed  of  a thin  pine  box  covered  with  burlap  and 
the  shirt  hung  on  this  (pi.  17). 

At  a distance  of  7 yards  the  heavy  bodkin  arrow  (pi. 
12,  fig.  6),  shot  from  a 75-pound  bow,  struck  the  armor 


19  University  of  California  specimen  no.  8-2278. 


58 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


with  such  force  that  a shower  of  sparks  flew  from  it,  and 
the  arrow  drove  through  the  center  of  the  back,  penetrat- 
ing 8 inches,  piercing  one  side  of  the  shirt  and  both  sides 
of  the  box.  It  is  apparent  that  armor  alone  is  not  suf- 
ficient protection  against  an  arrow  of  this  sort.^“ 

PENETEATIOlSr  OF  HUNTING  AEROWS— 

As  an  example  of  the  penetration  of  the  broadhead, 
the  accompanying  photograph  shows  a young  buck  shot 
with  an  arrow  of  the  type  of  plate  13,  figure  14,  from  a 
68-pound  bow  at  a distance  of  50  yards  (pi.  18,  fig.  1). 
This  animal  was  shot  first  completely  through  the  abdo- 
men at  65  yards.  The  arrow  severed  the  abdominal 
aorta  and  flew  20  yards  beyond,  sticking  in  the  ground. 
The  deer  bounded  about  30  yards,  then  staggered,  and 
I approached  within  50  yards  and  shot  him  back  of  the 
right  shoulder.  The  arrow  ranged  forward  through  the 
chest,  cutting  the  great  vessel  of  the  heart,  and  made  its 
exit  out  the  opposite  shoulder  running  down  the  leg  six 
inches,  and  was  only  stopped  from  going  completely 
through  by  striking  the  bone  in  the  leg.  This  animal  died 
in  less  than  two  minutes.  This  deer  is  one  of  eight  that 
we  have  killed  with  bows  in  the  past  four  years.  Mr. 
W.  J.  Compton  shot  a running  buck  at  75  yards,  killing 
him  with  an  arrow  which  traversed  the  chest  and  pro- 
truded a foot  beyond  the  opposite  shoulder. 

In  securing  museum  specimens  of  grizzly  bear  from 
Yellowstone  Park  under  a government  permit,  Mr. 
Arthur  Young  and  I shot  and  killed  three  adult  hear 
and  two  cubs  with  the  bow  and  arrow.  These  bears  were 
wild  and  were  taken  at  great  risk.  The  largest  animal 

20  The  experiment  of  shooting  a broadhead  at  this  valuable  museum 
specimen  did  not  seem  justified.  But  I doubt  that  complete  penetration 
could  be  made  with  a head  of  this  type. 


A STUDY  OP  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


59 


was  an  old  male,  killed  by  moonlight,  the  arrow  being 
shot  from  a blind  at  60  yards. 

Mr.  Young  shot  an  arrow  (similar  to  pi.  13,  fig.  14) 
completely  through  this  bear’s  chest,  severing  the  vena 
cava  and  producing  death  by  hemorrhage.  This  bear 
weighed  a little  over  a thousand  pounds. 

I shot  in  the  heart  and  killed  instantly  a charging 
female  grizzly  at  a distance  of  40  yards.  The  arrow 
severed  two  ribs  and  buried  itself  in  the  heart  wall, 
causing  a tremendous  flooding  of  the  entire  chest  cavity 
with  blood. 

The  bear  shown  in  plate  19  was  a female  that  charged 
while  we  were  taking  her  cubs.  She  was  shot  with  five 
arrows  and  had  her  foreleg  broken  by  a rifle  shot  before 
being  stopped.  The  photograph  shows  the  arrows  pene- 
trating her  body.  Besides  those  protruding  from  her, 
there  is  one  lying  on  the  ground  at  her  side  which  had 
gone  completely  through  her  chest,  while  one  not  in  this 
picture  penetrated  her  abdomen,  severed  the  portal  vein, 
and  flew  ten  yards  beyond  her  prostrate  form. 

THE  FLIGHT  OP  ABORIGINAL  ARROWS— 

In  general  it  may  be  stated  that  aboriginal  arrows  are 
inferior  in  make  and  shooting  qualities  when  compared 
with  those  of  higher  grades  of  material  culture.  The 
specimens  commonly  found  in  museums,  are,  of  course, 
badly  out  of  shape ; they  are  warped,  split,  loose  in  their 
binding  of  the  head  and  feathers,  and  generally  in  need 
of  repair.  Even  after  being  put  in  good  condition,  they 
are  nevertheless  very  poor  missiles  when  it  comes  to 
accuracy  of  flight,  and  in  one  quiver  the  individual 
specimens  are  of  such  dissimilar  size  and  weight  that 
no  constant  technique  is  possible  while  shooting  them. 


60 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  AKROWS 


Many  of  the  arrows  figured  in  the  accompanying 
plates  were  shot  from  their  proper  bows.  The  flight  was 
erratic,  flirting,  and  unreliable.  No  doubt  in  the  hands 
of  the  original  owner  they  were  discharged  in  better 
form.  This  truth  is  apparent  when  an  archer  attempts 
to  shoot  a strange  how.  Picking  up  a Japanese  bow  and 
shooting  it  either  by  the  Japanese  method  or  the  English, 
one  is  surprised  at  the  inaccuracy  of  his  shooting.  The 
arrows  tend  to  fly  widely  to  one  side.  I have  often  shot 
Ishi’s  bow  and  arrow;  using  his  method,  dra^ving  the 
string  with  the  thumb  and  holding  the  how  almost  hori- 
zontal, I found  myself  very  awkward  and  my  shooting 
ridiculous. 

If  an  archer  accustomed  to  shooting  a bow  of  one 
strength  changes  to  that  of  another,  he  is  at  once  thrown 
out  of  form.  This  is  especially  apparent  in  changing 
from  a heavy  to  a light  bow.  Here  his  muscular  adjust- 
ment is  so  unbalanced  that  in  using  the  English  type  of 
shooting  his  arrows  fly  far  to  the  left. 

COMPAEISON  OF  AEEOWS— 

The  California  Indian  made  a better  arrow  than  did 
the  Plains  Indian.  The  Hupa  arrows  (pi.  11,  figs.  5,  6, 
7)  are  of  really  excellent  workmanship.  Their  balance 
and  proportions  mark  them  for  accurate  flight  up  to  the 
limit  of  their  range,  say  150  yards.  Shooting  these  with 
the  Hupa  bow,  they  fly  in  excellent  form,  and  at  distances 
up  to  40  yards  their  impact  is  sharp  and  penetrating. 

Figure  8 in  the  same  plate  is  an  ingenious  bird  arrow. 
At  its  point  it  has  four  small  sticks  bound  with  sinew 
in  a square  about  the  foreshaft.  This  enlarges  its  strik- 
ing diameter,  so  that  it  increases  the  marksman’s  chances 
of  getting  his  game.  The  feathers  on  this  specimen  are 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


61 


arranged  in  a spiral  position,  which  again  shows  the  good 
sense  of  the  maker.  This  arrangement  not  only  serves 
to  rotate  the  otherwise  difficult  head  and  thus  promote 
steadiness  in  flight,  but  the  increased  friction  tends  to 
stop  the  arrow  after  10  or  20  yards,  so  that  it  is  more 
easily  found  when  shooting  in  the  trees  or  in  the  brush. 

The  Negrito  bird  arrow  shown  in  plate  8 employs  the 
same  principle  of  spreading  the  striking  point.  Here  a 
series  of  bamboo  spikes  are  arranged  concentrically  and 
make  a formidable  head  for  hitting  birds.  The  other  two 
arrows  shown  are  typical  fish  arrows,  hence  they  have 
no  feathers.  These  shafts  shot  at  distances  greater  than 
10  yards  tend  to  float  and  dive  in  most  erratic  gyrations. 
The  bird  arrow  flies  heavily  but  straight.  None  of  these 
can  be  shot  much  over  100  yards  from  the  bow  shown  on 
the  same  plate. 

COMPAEISON  OF  AEROWS  AND  BULLETS— 

From  the  experience  derived  from  these  and  many 
other  hunting  episodes,  I am  convinced  that  an  arrow 
that  enters  either  the  abdominal  or  chest  cavity  of  a large 
animal  does  as  much  damage  as  a bullet,  and  even  seems 
to  cause  more  hemorrhage  than  most  rifle  bullets.  The 
tearing  and  destruction  of  tissue  is  greater  in  the  case 
of  the  gunshot  wound;  but  the  clean  bleeding  wound  of 
the  arrow  is  quite  as  effective  as  a mortal  traumatism. 
Where  an  arrow  strikes  muscular  tissue,  such  as  a ham 
or  shoulder,  it  makes  a clean,  readily  healing  wound,  and 
does  little  harm.  So  on  the  whole  we  feel  that  the  bow  is 
a more  humane  and  more  sportsmanlike  implement  for 
hunting. 


62 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARKOWS 


CONCLUSIONS 

The  conclusions  derived  from  these  experiments  are : 

The  aboriginal  bows  are  not  highly  efficient  nor  well 
made  weapons. 

The  greatest  flight  shot  achieved  by  any  aboriginal 
bow  at  our  disposal  is  210  yards. 

The  greatest  flight  attained  by  any  bow  in  our  experi- 
ments was  281  yards.  This  flight  was  made  by  a replica 
of  a Turkish  bow. 

The  flight  arrows  made  by  Ishi  are  superior  to  all 
that  we  tried. 

The  English  longbow  is  a superior  weapon  to  any 
other  bow  tested.  The  old  English  broadhead  arrow  a 
yard  long  really  existed. 

The  striking  force  of  a 50-pound  bow  with  a 1-ounce 
arrow  at  10  feet  is  20  foot  pounds. 

The  striking  force  of  a 75-pound  bow  with  a 1-ounce 
arrow  is  25  foot  pounds. 

The  velocity  of  a target  arrow  from  a 50-pound  bow 
is  120  feet  per  second;  from  a 75-pound  bow,  135  feet 
per  second. 

The  heavier  the  arrow,  up  to  a certain  limit,  the 
greater  the  striking  force. 

The  larger  the  feathers  on  an  arrow,  the  sooner  it 
loses  velocity  and  striking  force. 

The  red  wood  of  the  yew  has  more  cast  than  the  white 
wood. 


A STUDY  OF  BOWS  AND  ARROWS 


63 


Backing  a bow  with  rawhide  does  not  increase  its 
cast;  it  only  prevents  the  bow  from  breaking. 

Obsidian  arrow  points  penetrate  animal  tissue  better 
than  steel  points  the  same  size. 

Linen  is  stronger  and  better  for  bow  strings  than 
sinew. 

A Tartar  bow,  though  the  most  powerful  to  draw,  is 
a failure  as  a weapon  to  shoot. 

The  California  Indian  makes  the  best  aboriginal 
arrow  of  all  the  specimens  examined. 

The  English  target  arrow  of  today  is  the  highest  scien- 
tific development  of  the  arrow. 

A steel  broadhead  arrow,  shot  from  a strong  bow, 
can  pass  entirely  through  a large  animal  and  produce 
instant  death. 

A bodkin-pointed  arrow,  shot  from  a heavy  bow,  can 
penetrate  steel  mail. 

The  bow  is  a more  sportsmanlike  implement  than  a 
gun  because  it  requires  more  skill  and  personal  strength, 
and  in  hunting  it  places  the  man  and  his  quarry  on  a more 
equal  footing.  It  fosters  the  preservation  of  game. 


PLATE  1 

Ali  OLD  PAINTING  OF  ST.  SEBASTIAN 

In  the  University  Museum  of  Anthropology.  There  are  two  figures 
painted  on  small  wooden  doors,  probably  those  of  an  ancient  sacrarium. 
One  figure  represents  the  Saint,  bow  and  arrow  in  hand,  dressed  in  armor 
of  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century,  having  on  his  breast  the  Cross  of  the 
Crusaders.  The  other  figure,  not  shown  here,  is  that  of  a kneeling  monk, 
possibly  in  adoration. 

The  figure  of  the  archer  in  the  painting  stands  29%  inches  tall,  and  the 
string  on  his  bow  is  30  inches  long.  This  bears  out  the  old  statement  that 
the  string  on  the  longbow  should  be  the  height  of  the  archer.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  bow  when  unstrung  is  three  or  four  inches  longer  than 
the  string. 

Assuming  the  bow  to  be  six  feet,  this  would  make  our  archer  some  five 
feet  eight  or  nine  inches,  which  probably  is  a good  average  for  his  day. 
The  arrow  in  the  picture  is  17  inches  over  all,  with  a shaft  of  15%  inches. 

The  proportions  maintained  by  the  artist  seem  to  be  accurate,  and  the 
objects  are  all  in  one  plane,  with  no  distortion  through  perspective. 

Assuming  the  bow  to  have  been  six  feet,  comparative  measurements  of 
the  features  of  the  archer’s  equipment  are  computed  as  follows: 

The  bow  is  1%  inches  thick  and  has  a nock  1%  inches  long.  Judging 
from  the  appearance,  this  bow  does  not  pull  over  80  pounds,  probably  less. 
It  is  of  red  yew,  with  the  white  sapwood  clearly  showing  on  the  back.  It 
is  gracefully  made,  having  slender  whip  ends  to  its  outer  limbs.  There  are 
delicate  horn  nocks,  indicated  by  light  blue-gray  color,  at  the  ends,  but 
there  is  no  suggestion  of  a handgrip  at  the  center.  The  string  is  thin  and 
white,  therefore  not  sinew,  but  probably  of  hemp,  linen,  or  silk.  The  deli- 
cate nocks  and  whip  ends  of  the  bow  are  not  capable  of  standing  a great 
strain.  Having  made  about  a hundred  yew  bows  myself,  I venture  to  assert 
that  this  particular  weapon  is  not  one  of  those  very  powerful  implements 
described  by  historians,  but  one  well  within  the  command  of  such  a man 
as  is  depicted  in  the  painting.  His  delicate  hands  portray  the  scholar  rather 
than  the  rustic  yeoman. 

The  length  of  the  arrow  over  all  is  38%  inches.  The  length  of  the  shaft 
is  35  inches.  Its  diameter  is  a trifle  less  than  half  an  inch.  The  length  of 
the  head  is  3%  inches,  its  breadth,  2%  inches.  The  feathers  are  9 inches 
long. 

q^he  arrow  is  the  famous  English  broadhead,  having  a heavy  angular 
steel  point  set  on  the  shaft  with  a tubular  haft  or  socket.  The  whole  head 
seems  to  have  been  forged.  The  arrow  is  a simple  cylindrical  shaft  of  light 
yellow  wood,  probably  ash  or  oak.  It  is  tapered  slightly  at  the  nock,  where 
there  is  the  suggestion  of  a long  narrow  wedge-shaped  piece  of  horn  inserted. 
The  feather  is  the  historic  gray  goose  wing,  cut  straight  and  angular.  It 
is  bound  to  the  shaft  at  both  extremities  with  white  silk  thread  in  close 
serving.  In  the  interval  between  these  servings,  the  thread  runs  spirally  up 
the  shaftment,  between  the  barbs  of  the  feathers;  the  spirals  are  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  apart,  and  fasten  the  feather  through  its  entire  length 
to  the  arrow. 

A replica  of  the  arrow  was  constructed  to  represent  as  nearly  as  possible 
that  in  the  painting,  birch  being  used  for  the  shaft,  forged  steel  for  the 
head,  and  goose  feathers.  Its  weight  is  3 ounces.  It  is  in  truth  that  honor- 
able old  institution,  the  English  broadhead  arrow,  a yard  long. 

[64] 


[pope]  plate  1 


PLATE  2 

BOWS  USED  IN'  THE  TESTS 

Fig.  1. — Philippine  bow  made  of  bamboo,  pulls  26  pounds,  and  shoots 
100  yards.  University  of  California  Museum  of  Anthropology,  number 
10-587. 

Fig.  2. — Mohave  bow,  pulls  40  pounds  and  shoots  110  yards.  1-13816. 

Fig.  3. — Paraguay  bow,  made  of  ironwood,  pulls  60  pounds  and  shoots 
170  yards.  This  specimen  was  worked  over  by  me  into  a bow  of  more 
scientific  proportions,  when  it  then  drew  a 28-inch  arrow,  pulled  85  pounds, 
and  shot  a flight  arrow  276  yards.  16-619. 

Pig.  4. — Modern  copy  of  old  English  longbow,  made  of  Oregon  yew, 
pulls  75  pounds,  shoots  250  yards.  Property  of  S.  T.  Pope. 

Fig.  5. — Yukon  bow  of  birch,  pulls  or  weighs  60  pounds,  shoots  125 
yards.  2-2810. 

Pig.  6. — Luiseno  bow,  pulls  48  pounds,  shoots  120  yards.  1-9213. 


[66] 


[pope]  plate  2 


3 


PLATE  3 

BOWS  USED  IN  THE  TESTS 

Fig.  7. — Navaho  bow,  of  mesquite  wood  backed  with  sinew,  pulls  45 
pounds  and  shoots  150  yards.  Museum  number  2-5702. 

Fig.  8. — Yurok  bow,  made  of  yew  wood,  sinew  backed.  A typical  North- 
ern California  specimen.  It  draws  30  pounds  and  shoots  140  yards.  1-1055. 

Fig.  9. — A powerful  Alaskan  bow,  probably  Eskimo,  made  of  fir,  backed 
with  bone  and  open  sinew  lashing.  A weapon  suitable  for  killing  big  game. 
It  pulls  80  pounds  and  shoots  180  yards.  2-6372. 

Fig.  10. — A Yaqui  bow  of  Osage  dfange,  a rough,  strong  weapon  built 
for  active  service.  It  pulls  70  pounds  and  casts  a flight  arrow  210  yards. 
3-1875. 

Fig.  11. — Ishi’s  bow.  A Yahi  specimen,  made  of  yew,  backed  with  raw- 
hide,  pulls  48  pounds  and  shoots  205  yards.  Property  of  S.  T.  Pope. 

Fig.  12. — A buffalo  bow,  Blackfoot.  When  drawn  25  inches,  the  limit 
of  the  arrows  that  accompany  it,  the  weight  is  45  pounds  and  the  cast  145 
yards.  2-5494. 


[68] 


[pope]  plate  3 


9 !0 


PLATE  4 

BOWS  AND  ARROWS  FROM  THE  JESSOP  COLLECTION 

Fig.  13. — Apache  bow,  hickory,  backed  with  sinew.  It  pulls  28  pounds 
and  shoots  120  yards. 

Fig.  14. — Cheyenne,  a rough,  sinewy-backed  buffalo  bow,  weighs  65 
pounds  and  easts  156  yards. 

Fig.  15. — Hupa,  a typical  CaKfornia  bow  made  of  yew  wood,  backed 
with  sinew,  painted  red  and  blue,  pulls  40  pounds  and  shoots  148  yards. 

Pig.  16. — Osage  bow,  an  unusual  type  made  of  bois  d’arc.  It  pulls 
40  pounds  and  shoots  92  yards. 

Pig.  17. — Cree  bow,  a flat  lath  of  ash  which  broke  while  being  tested. 
When  drawn  20  inches,  it  registered  38  pounds  and  fractured.  It  would 
not  have  cast  the  flight  arrow  more  than  150  yards. 

Fig.  18. — Blackfoot,  a hickory  buffalo  bow,  backed  with  sinew;  a 
sprightly  little  weapon  pulling  40  pounds  and  shooting  153  yards. 

The  arrows  in  the  plate,  from  left  to  right,  are  as  follows:  Apache, 
Cheyenne,  Osage,  Hupa,  Cree,  Sioux,  Tomawata,  Blackfoot. 


[70] 


[pope]  plate  4 


PLATE  5 


AMERICAN  MUSEUM  OP  NATURAL  HISTORY  BOWS 

Fig.  19. — Congo,  a well-made  little  bow,  but  too  brittle  and  cracked  to 
be  tested.  Specimen  number  90-1-3038. 

Fig.  20. — African  bow,  made  of  so-called  ironwood;  draws  54  pounds 
and  casts  107  yards.  90-0-280. 

Fig.  21. — Andaman  Island  bow.  When  drawn  20  inches  it  pulls  45 
pounds  and  shoots  142  yards.  It  did  not  seem  advisable  to  draw  it  farther. 
70-0-1129. 

Fig.  22. — South  American  bow  of  palma  brava.  When  drawn  28  inches 
it  pulls  50  pounds  and  shoots  98  yards.  40-9800. 

Fig.  23. — Solomon  Islands,  a well-made  bow  of  palma  bravo.  When 
drawn  26  inches  it  weighs  56  poimds  and  shoots  148  yards.  T.  2669. 

Fig.  24. — New  Guinea,  a well-made  bow  of  palma  brava,  too  brittle  to 
be  tested.  80-0-3936. 

Fig.  25. — Philippine,  probably  Mindanao,  in  no  condition  to  be  shot; 
probably  does  not  weigh  over  30  pounds  nor  shoot  over  100  yards.  Not 
numbered. 

Fig.  26. — Africa,  practically  the  same  as  fig.  19,  and  too  fragile  to  be 
tested.  90-1-182. 


[pope]  plate  5 


PLATE  6 

TARTAR  BOWS 

Fig.  1. — Tartar  bow,  number  27,  showing  the  reflexed  shape  of  the  com- 
posite bow  when  unstrung,  also  the  long  target  arrow. 

Fig.  2. — The  same  bow  being  braced.  This  weapon,  drawn  29  inches, 
weighs  30  pounds  and  shoots  100  yards. 

Fig.  3. — Tartar  bow,  number  28.  This  is  the  heavy  bow,  the  string  of 
which  is  like  a rawhide  lariat.  It  is  a formidable  looking  weapon. 

Fig.  4. — Same  Tartar  bow  being  held  in  position,  but  no  man  is  able  to 
draw  it  more  than  12  inches.  Wlien  drawn  30  inches  it  weighs  98  pounds, 
and  when  shot  by  drawing  with  both  hands  and  both  feet  it  shoots  the 
flight  arrow  90  yards.  After  change  to  a lighter  bow  string  it  cast  the 
same  arrow  175  yards. 


[74] 


[pope]  plate  6 


« 


PLATE  7 

JAPAiTESEJ  ABCHEE  AND  BOW 

Mr.  Ogawa  in  Japanese  costume  shooting  a light  bamboo  bow,  showing 
the  classical  attitude.  The  bow  is  held  “as  one  holds  an  egg  in  his  hand” 
— very  lightly.  The  left  forefinger  is  pointed  toward  the  object  to  be  hit. 
The  arrow  is  held  with  the  Mongolian  release,  and  drawn  on  the  right  side 
of  the  bow  to  the  point  of  the  right  shoulder.  An  extra  shaft  is  held  in 
the  grasp  of  the  little  finger. 

Shooting  of  this  sort  is  part  of  the  high  school  education  in  Japan. 
The  distance  ordinarily  shot  is  about  30  yards. 

This  particular  bow  is  7 feet  4 inches  long,  is  an  inch  wide  and  a little 
less  than  three-quarters  of  an  inch  thick.  It  pulls  about  40  pounds  and 
shoots  a target  arrow  150  yards. 

The  Japanese  gauge  the  strength  of  their  bows  by  the  thickness.  All 
are  the  width  of  a thumb  joint,  or  one  inch.  There  are  three  general 
strengths  of  bows.  One  is  half  an  inch  thick;  the  next  is  three-quarters; 
and  the  third,  one  inch  in  thickness. 

Old  Japanese  prints  and  statuary  show  much  shorter  and  more  powerful 
weapons  than  that  here  illustrated. 


[76] 


[pope]  plate  7 


PLATE  8 


NEGEITO,  CUFF  DWELLEE.,  AND  WINTUN  BOWS  AND  AREOWS 

Fig.  1. — Luzon  Negrito  bow,  from  the  R.  F.  Barton  private  collection; 
made  of  palma  irava.  When  drawn  28  inches  it  pulls  56  pounds  and  shoots 
176  yards. 

The  nearest  arrow  is  a bird  arrow,  from  the  same  tribe.  The  two 
other  arrows  are  Melanesian  fish  arrows  without  feathers;  Museum  numbers 
11-26,  11-332. 

Fig.  2. — Northern  Wintun  bow  and  arrows.  A refiexed,  sinew-backed, 
yew  bow,  too  fragile  to  test.  At  the  nocks  it  is  bound  with  fur,  apparently 
weasel.  This  device  is  used  to  act  as  a damper  to  the  string  so  that  it 
makes  no  noise  when  the  bow  is  shot.  It  is  said  that  Gcronimo  could  shoot 
an  arrow  with  absolute  silence.  Probably  some  similar  method  was  em- 
ployed. Arrows  fledged  with  owl  feathers  make  little  or  no  noise  in  flight, 
and  although  the  plumage  from  this  bird  seems  to  have  been  avoided  by  the 
American  savage,  it  is  possible  that  the  unholy  intent  suggested  by  the 
necessity  of  a silent  shot  in  the  dark  may  have  warranted  such  employment. 
Bow,  2-6813,  arrows,  1-4484. 

Pig.  3. — Cliff  dweller  bow  from  a cave  in  Colorado.  It  is  probably  one 
of  the  oldest  bows  in  America.  The  wood  is  juniper  or  cedar.  The  actual 
weight  is  350  grammes.  It  probably  did  not  puU  more  than  50  pounds. 
2-3342. 

The  two  arrows  found  with  this  bow  are  made  of  reed,  having  a hard 
wood  foreshaft  tipped  with  flint  heads.  Their  weight  is  20  grammes  or 
320  grains.  Their  general  characteristics  are  those  of  the  Northern  Cali- 
fornia Indian  arrows  of  today.  2-3338,  2-3339. 


[78] 


»ii 


ft 


'■■nv.. 


« 


. ^ 


PLATE  9 

EEPUCAS  OF  TtJEKISH  COMPOSITE  AND  ENGLISH  BOWS 

Fig.  1. — Composite  bow  unstrung,  showing  its  reflexed  condition.  The 
string  has  been  looped  on  for  convenience  in  handling.  The  bow  thus 
appears  strung,  but  could  of  course  not  be  shot  until  strung  with  its  curva- 
ture reversed. 

Fig.  2. — Shooting  a flight  shot  with  a composite  bow.  A shorter  arrow 
is  shot  through  a horn.  This  permits  its  being  drawn  past  the  bow,  a 
method  used  by  the  Turks.  The  weight  of  this  bow  is  85  pounds.  Its 
greatest  flight  is  281  yards. 

Fig.  3. — A replica  of  the  “Mary  Eose”  bow,  showing  Mr.  Arthur  Young 
drawing  a 36-inch  broadhead  arrow  on  a 6 foot  4 inch  bow. 

Fig.  4. — The  English  longbow  when  drawn  to  the  full  arc.  Observe  sym- 
metry of  the  curve,  showing  the  even  distribution  of  the  strain  upon  the 
wood. 

The  arrow  here  is  drawn  to  a point  on  the  jaw  below  the  eye,  not  to  the 
ear  as  in  ancient  times.  The  former  has  been  demonstrated  by  Horace  Ford 
to  be  the  proper  method  for  accurate  aiming.  In  a man  of  average  height 
and  length  of  arms,  the  distance  is  28  inches  from  his  extended  left  hand 
to  his  jaw. 


[80] 


I 


[pope]  plate  9 


PLATE  10 


AESOWS  USED  IN  TESTS 

Fig.  1. — One  of  Ishi’s  hunting  arrows,  made  at  the  Museum.  It  has  a 
birch  shaft,  steel  head,  and  turkey  feathers.  It  is  30  inches  long  and 
weighs  about  an  ounce. 

Fig.  2. — The  Ishi  flight  arrow  used  in  all  the  tests.  It  is  29  inches  over 
all,  made  of  bamboo,  with  a birch  foreshaft,  tipped  with  a conical  steel 
pile,  feathered  with  turkey  feathers  and  weighs  310  grains.  Its  flight  is 
uniformly  25  per  cent  better  than  the  standard  English  target  arrow. 
Property  of  S.  T.  Pope. 

Pig  3. — A standard  English  target  arrow  of  the  present  day,  made  of 
Douglas  fir,  having  a spliced  foreshaft  of  snake  wood.  It  is  nocked  with 
horn,  has  balloon-shaped  turkey  feathers,  is  28  inches  long,  %g  inch  in 
diameter,  cylindrical  in  shape,  and  weighs  436  grains  or  5 shillings.  The 
end  is  fitted  with  a blunt  cylindrical  steel  pile. 

Eig.  4. — A bamboo  flight  arrow,  having  a birch  foreshaft,  fashioned 
after  Ishi  arrows.  Its  total  length  is  25  inches  and  its  weight  is  200  grains. 
The  feathers  are  hawk,  but  very  short  and  low.  It  is  tipped  with  a blunt 
brass  pile;  shot  on  small  bows. 

Figs.  5,  6,  and  7. — Arrows  made  by  Ishi  while  in  the  wild  state.  The 
shaft  is  made  of  witch  hazel,  the  foreshaft  of  some  heavier  wood.  They  are 
feathered  with  buzzard  feathers,  bound  on  with  deer  sinew,  and  painted  in 
rings  on  the  shaftment  with  red  and  blue  pigment.  Fig.  7 has  a chipped 
glass  head,  bound  on  with  sinew.  The  others  have  only  the  notch  for  such 
a head.  Museum  Nos.  1-19577,  1—19578,  1—19579. 

Figs.  8 to  13. — Ishi  arrows  made  in  the  Museum,  showing  the  various 
sizes  and  shapes  used.  The  larger  seem  to  have  been  made  more  for  show 
or  ceremonials  or  as  presents.  1-19864,  1—19863,  1-19866,  1-19862,  1-19456, 
1-19454. 


[82] 


[pope]  plate  io 


13 


PLATE  11 


ABORIGINAL  ARROWS  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  MUSEUM  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY 

Fig.  1. — Kiowa,  a typical  hunting  arrow  made  of  a stem  or  shaft  of 
dogwood  23  inches  long  by  %e  inch  in  diameter.  The  head  is  hoop  iron, 
3%  inches  long  by  % inch  wide,  having  a short  shank  boimd  with  sinew 
inserted  in  the  wood.  The  feather  is  that  of  a hawk  and  is  5%  inches  long, 
bound  at  the  extremities  with  sinew.  The  entire  weight  is  252  grains. 
Museum  No.  2-4831. 

Fig.  2. — Kiowa.  Shaft  possibly  dogwood,  21  inches  long,  % inch  in 
diameter.  The  head  is  a piece  of  flat  bone  6%  inches  long,  bound  in  with 
sinew.  The  feathers  are  hawk,  sinew  bound,  6%  inches  long.  This  arrow 
weighs  204  grains.  2-4831. 

Fig.  3. — Kiowa.  Shaft  26%  inches  long,  % inch  in  diameter,  same  wood 
as  above.  The  head  is  of  thin  brass  2 inches  long  by  % inch  in  width. 
The  weight  of  the  arrow  is  316  grains.  2-4831. 

Fig.  4. — Taqui.  Made  of  a reed  25  inches  in  length  by  % inch  in 
diameter,  having  a foreshaft  of  a heavy  dark  wood  6 inches  in  length. 
There  is  a sinew  binding  at  the  joint.  There  are  no  feathers.  The  weight 
is  450  grains.  3-1877. 

Fig.  5. — Yurok.  Shaft  of  hazel  or  possibly  of  “red  bud,”  29  inches 
long,  by  %0  inch  in  diameter;  feathers  5%  inches  long.  The  head  is  red 
flint,  1%  by  % inches,  set  in  resin  and  bound  with  sinew.  The  weight  is 
320  grains.  1-1448. 

Fig.  6. — Hupa.  The  wood  as  above,  29%  inches  long  by  i%2  i^ch 
diameter.  The  feathers  are  4%  inches  in  length,  head  is  of  bone  2%  by  % 
inches.  The  weight  is  316  grains.  1-987. 

Fig.  7. — Yurok.  Shaft  possibly  hazel,  30  inches  long  by  %6 
diameter,  having  a foreshaft  of  heavier  wood  5%  inches  long  by  % inch 
in  diameter.  The  feather  is  7%  inches  in  leng^th.  The  weight  is  480  grains. 
This  is  a blunt  arrow  for  small  game.  1-1448. 

Fig.  8. — Yokuts.  A bird  arrow  of  unusual  type.  The  shaft  is  33  inches 
long  by  inch  in  diameter,  having  a foreshaft  7 inches  in  length,  on  the 
end  of  which  are  lashed  four  small  cross  sticks  to  act  as  a head,  thus  in- 
creasing the  pattern  of  its  hitting  area.  The  feathers  are  unusual  in  that 
they  are  cut  parabolic  in  shape  and  arranged  in  a spiral  manner  on  the 
shaft.  This  not  only  helps  to  rotate  the  inert  head,  promoting  accuracy  and 
stability  of  flight,  but  materially  slows  and  shortens  the  flight,  thus  making 
the  arrow  easier  to  find  after  shooting.  1-10767. 


[84] 


[pope]  PJ-ATE  11 


8 


PLATE  12 
VABIOtTS  AKE/OWS 
Property  of  S.  T.  Pope 

Fig.  1. — Chinese  or  Tartar  war  arrow.  The  shaft  is  apparently  of  poplar 
or  beech  wood,  38  inches  long  by  % inch  in  diameter.  It  has  a wide  oval 
nock  cut  in  the  expanded  end  of  the  arrow,  and  the  whole  reinforced  by  a 
binding  of  shagreen,  or  shark  skin.  The  shaftment  is  stained  red,  the 
feathers  are  goose,  10  inches  long,  1 inch  high,  cut  and  glued  on  without 
binding.  The  head  is  of  forged  iron,  4 inches  long,  set  in  the  shaft  with  a 
shank.  The  joint  is  bound  with  sinew,  covered  with  lacquer.  The  weight  of 
this  missile  is  4 ounces.  It  is  the  heaviest  arrow  I have  ever  seen.  Shot 
from  our  strongest  bow,  85-pound  Turkish,  its  flight  is  only  115  yards.  The 
arrow  really  possesses  more  the  qualities  and  characteristics  of  a javelin 
than  of  an  arrow. 

Pig.  2. — Chinese  arrow,  lighter,  for  hunting  or  targets.  Shaft  of  wood, 
similar  to  above,  probably  beech,  38  inches  long  by  % of  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter, having  a simple  round  nock  bound  with  shagreen.  The  feather  seems 
to  be  heron  or  goose,  13  inches  long,  cut  or  scraped  very  thin  on  the  rib,  and 
glued  to  the  shaft  without  binding.  The  point  is  iron,  2 inches  long  by  % 
inch  wide,  set  in  with  a long  slender  shank.  The  joint  is  bound  with 
lacquered  sinew.  Its  weight  is  1%  ounces.  It  can  be  shot  138  yards. 

Fig.  3. — Keplica  of  old  English  war  arrow  from  painting  of  St.  Sebas- 
tian in  plate  1.  Length  38%  inches,  weight  3 ounces.  It  can  be  shot  112 
yards. 

Fig.  4. — Japanese  target  arrow,  a bamboo  shaft  35  inches  in  length  by 
iiich  in  diameter.  It  has  a wide  hardwood  nock  about  % inch  long, 
set  on  the  end,  probably  with  a pin.  The  joint  here  is  bound  with  red  silk 
and  varnished.  The  feathers  are  fish  hawk  or  eagle,  the  rib  cut  very  thin. 
They  are  6 inches  long  by  % inch  high,  glued  to  the  shaft,  and  bound  at  the 
extremities  with  a ribbon  of  silk  floss  or  paper  which  is  covered  with 
lacquer.  Two  rings  of  gold  leaf  decorate  the  shaftment.  The  pile  is  a 
short,  conical  brazed  iron  cap,  set  on  the  end  with  a pin  shank.  There  is 
no  evidence  of  shellac  or  varnish  on  the  shaft.  The  weight  is  432  grains. 
A very  fine  arrow.  It  can  be  shot  185  yards. 

Fig.  5. — Ishi  hunting  arrow,  birch  shaft,  30  inches  long  by  inch  thick, 
turkey  feathers  8 inches  long,  bound  with  sinew  but  not  glued  to  shaft.  The 
head  is  obsidian  set  in  a notch  with  resin  and  bound  with  sinew.  The  weight 
is  485  grains.  It  can  be  shot  205  yards. 

Fig.  6. — Eeplica  of  old  English  bodkin  point,  made  for  piercing  armor. 
The  shaft  is  birch,  28  inches  long  by  % inch  in  diameter.  The  feathers  are 
turkey,  5 inches  long  by  % inch  high,  cut  and  glued  to  shaft;  the  ends 
bound  with  green  silk  floss.  The  point  is  quadrihedral,  tapered  tool  steel, 
having  a hollow  shank  or  haft  into  which  the  shaft  is  set  with  a cement 
made  of  pitch  and  caoutchouc.  The  weight  is  2%  ounces.  With  this  arrow 
we  were  able  to  shoot  through  chain  mail  and  steel  plate.  It  can  be  shot 
150  yards. 

Pig.  7. — Hunting  arrow  made  by  W.  H.  Thompson,  the  archer.  The 
shaft  is  of  red  split  hickory,  28  inches  long  by  1142  diameter.  It 

has  a simple  nock,  red  dyed  turkey  feathers,  cut  in  balloon  shape  2%  inches 
long  by  % inch  high,  glued  to  the  shaft;  the  cock  feather  is  white.  The 
head  is  made  of  a lanceolate  steel  blade,  2 inches  long  by  % inch  wide, 
brazed  in  a thin  tubular  socket  or  haft  1 inch  long.  It  weighs  560  grains. 
This  is  a beautifully  made  arrow  proportioned  most  skilfully.  It  is  the 
result  of  30  years’  experience  in  hunting  with  the  longbow.  It  can  be 
shot  200  yards. 

Fig.  8. — Small  bodkin  point,  fitted  to  an  Ishi  arrow,  used  in  the  tests. 
It  can  be  shot  215  yards. 

Pig.  9. — Broadhead  hunting  arrow  of  old  English  type,  made  of  a birch 
dowel  % inch  in  diameter,  28  inches  long,  having  a tempered  steel  head  2% 
inches  long  by  1%  inches  wide,  set  in  steel  tubing  shaft  by  rivet  and  solder. 
Used  for  killing  big  game.  Weight,  1%  ounces.  It  can  be  shot  190  yards. 

Fig.  10. — Blunt  arrow  for  small  game,  so-called  “fluflu,  ” birch  shaft, 
full  width  cut  feathers,  screw  head  bound  with  wire,  weight,  1%  ounces. 
It  can  be  shot  only  139  yards. 

Pig.  11. — Typical  English  target  arrow,  length  28  inches,  weight,  5 
shillings  or  about  436  grains.  It  can  be  shot  235  yards. 

[86] 


[pope]  plate  12 


PLATE  13 


AEEOW  HEADS  USED  IN  PENETEATaON  TESTS 

Fig.  1. — Blunt  headless  arrow,  used  to  gauge  striking  force.  Shot 
against  paraf&n. 

Fig.  2. — Blunt  screw  head,  bound  with  wire,  used  for  killing  small  game. 

Fig.  3. — Blunt  arrow,  tipped  with  empty  38  caliber  shell,  used  to  shoot 
through  board. 

Fig.  4. — Regulation  English  target  head  or  pile. 

Fig.  5. — Conical  head  made  of  empty  rifle  jacket. 

Fig.  6. — Small  steel  bodkin  point  used  only  in  tests. 

Fig.  7. — Large  steel  bodkin,  repRea  of  old  English,  used  to  pierce  metal. 

Figs.  8 and  9. — Obsidian  hunting  heads  made  by  Ishi. 

Fig.  10. — Lance-shaped  head  used  to  pierce  armor. 

Fig.  11. — Blunt  barbed  head,  set  in  shaft  with  a shank,  bound  with 
tinned  wire  and  soldered.  Used  to  kill  small  game. 

Fig.  12. — Ishi  steel  hunting  head. 

Figs.  13  and  14. — Steel  broadheads,  used  in  killing  large  game.  Still 
longer  and  broader  heads  were  used  by  Mr.  Arthur  Young  and  myself  in 
killing  bears.  The  blades  on  the  latter  were  3 inches  long,  114  iuches  wide 
by  1^2  i^ch  thick.  They  were  made  of  spring  steel,  sharpened  with  a file 
to  a meat-cutting  edge.  These  blades  are  set  in  a steel  tubing  haft,  by  a 
rivet  and  soft  solder.  They  will  stand  a great  deal  of  hard  usage. 

Fig.  15. — A replica  of  the  old  English  broadhead  depicted  in  the  paint- 
ing of  St.  Sebastian,  plate  1.  Its  length  is  3%  inches,  width  214  inches, 
weight,  a trifle  over  1 ounce. 


[88] 


[pope!  plate  13 


PLATE  14 


ANCIENT  SYEIAN  AKEOWHEADS 

Pigs.  1,  2,  and  3. — Small  iron  bodkin  points,  stowing  that  the  early 
English  had  precedence  to  guide  them  in  fashioning  similar  heads  a 
thousand  years  later. 

Figs.  4 and  5. — ^Larger  bodkin  points  of  forged  iron.  The  larger  of 
these  is  a bit  over  2 inches  long  in  the  blade  and  % inch  wide.  Its  weight 
is  275  grains. 

Fig.  6. — A bronze  arrowhead,  Etruscan,  of  classic  shape.  Its  blade 
restored  would  measure  1%  inches  long  by  1 inch  wide;  the  thickness  is 
about  ot  an  inch.  Its  weight  is  50  grains. 

Pig.  7. — A rounded  bodkin  point  whose  length  is  1%  inches,  width  % of 
an  inch.  The  weight  is  100  grains. 

Pig.  8. — A steel  lanceolate  head  2 inches  long  by  % inch  wide,  weighing 
120  grains.  A well-made  head. 

Pig.  9. — A steel  lanceolate  head  2 inches  long  by  % inch  wide,  weight 
145  grains. 

Fig.  10. — A flat  bronze  head  whose  blade  is  1%  inches  long  by  % inch 
wide.  The  weight  is  85  grains. 

Pig.  11. — Though  listed  as  an  arrowhead,  this  seems  rather  to  be  a 
bronze  knife  blade  or  lancet.  The  haft  is  square  and  in  no  way  suggests 
an  attachment  to  a shaft. 

Fig.  6 is  Museum  No.  8-1244.  All  the  others  are  catalogued  under 
No.  8-231. 


[90] 


[POPE]  PLATE  14 


PLATE  15 

ARROWS  PENETRATING  A FIE  BOARD 

Fig.  1. — The  penetration  of  a blunt  arrow  shot  from  a 75-pound  bow  at 
an  inch  fir  board,  showing  the  type  of  fracture  produced  at  a distance  of 
10  yards. 

Fig.  2. — The  penetration  of  a broadhead  hunting  arrow  shot  from  a 
75-pound  bow  at  10  yards.  The  broadhead  has  gone  in  almost  crosswise  to 
the  grain. 

Fig.  3. — A lance-shaped  arrowhead  shot  from  the  same  bow,  showing  the 
penetration  from  a distance  of  10  yards. 


[92] 


[pope]  plate  15 


PLATE  16 


SKTTLIi  PIEECED  THROUGH  THE  ORBIT  BY  AH  ARROW 

Fig.  1.- — -This  is  the  anterior  or  facial  portion  of  an  Indian  skull  found 
near  Buena  Vista  lake  at  the  head  of  the  San  Joaquin  valley,  and  now 
No.  12—1731  in  the  University  Museum  of  Anthropology.  It  shows  certain 
anomalies  of  the  teeth  in  that  there  is  a persistent  decidual  bicuspid  in  the 
left  superior  maxillary  bone.  The  two  right  upper  incisors  are  missing. 
The  right  superior  maxilla  is  fractured  and  the  wall  of  the  antrum  depressed 
inward.  The  nasal  bones  are  fractured  and  almost  entirely  missing.  There 
is  a transverse  fracture  crossing  the  left  superior  maxilla  cutting  the  infra- 
orbital foramen. 

Eunning  backward  and  downward,  there  is  a portion  of  an  arrow  shaft 
about  5 inches  in  length  which  pierces  the  inferior  orbital  plate,  crosses  the 
nasal  cavity  traversing  a portion  of  the  ethnoid,  vomer,  and  sphenoid  bones, 
and  terminating  at  a point  one  inch  above  the  base  of  the  styloid  process. 
This  piece  of  arrow  is  the  major  portion  of  the  foreshaft  and  the  spliced 
joint  of  the  shaft,  which  is  broken  off  short.  The  foreshaft  is  made  of  some 
hard  wood  such  as  hazel  or  wild  lilac  or  redbud,  while  the  shaft  appar- 
ently is  of  reed.  The  union  between  them  is  formed  by  a spindle  insertion 
with  resin  and  shows  marks  of  sinew  wrapping.  The  anterior  end  of  the 
arrow  has  been  burnt  off,  but  the  taper  indicates  that  the  arrow  probably 
had  a stone  head  attached  within  an  inch  of  the  charred  extremity.  The 
apertures  through  the  various  plates  of  bone  traversed  rather  suggest  that  a 
small  sharp  arrowhead  passed  through.  The  course  of  this  head  passes 
directly  over  the  foramen  spinosum,  foramen  ovale,  and  the  foramen  lacerum 
medium.  It  seems  therefore  that  it  made  its  exit  posterior  to  the  angle  of 
the  jaw  about  two  inches  below  the  mastoid  process,  on  the  left.  In  doing 
this  it  must  have  cut  the  internal  carotid  artery  and  the  internal  jugular 
vein.  Death  must  have  resulted  from  hemorrhage  within  a few  minutes. 

It  may  be  assumed  from  the  fractured,  burned,  and  punctured  condition 
of  this  portion  of  the  skull  that  the  individual  was  a middle-aged  Indian  who 
was  shot  in  the  eye  with  an  arrow;  that  he  was  also  struck  in  the  face  with 
a club,  thus  sustaining  a bilateral  fracture  of  the  superior  maxillae,  or  that 
he  fell  forward  and  sustained  these  fractures  upon  hitting  the  ground. 
There  are  several  fractures  in  the  base  of  the  skull  which  suggest  that  he 
may  have  been  beaten  on  the  head  and  no  effort  was  made  to  succor  him. 

The  entire  absence  of  calvarium  and  the  burned  conditions  of  the  lateral 
surfaces  of  the  skull,  combined  with  a total  immunity  from  charring  both 
of  the  face  and  the  part  of  the  bone  covered  by  muscular  attachments  as 
well  as  the  preserved  arrow  shaft,  rather  suggest  that  the  body  lay  upon  its 
anterior  surface  during  the  burning  process  and  that  it  was  in  a state  of 
tissue  preservation:  burned  soon  after  death. 

There  has  been  no  attempt  to  remove  the  arrow,  though  the  end  near  the 
joint  is  broken,  not  burned,  as  if  this  were  done  by  the  victim  himself,  or 
by  a blow  in  the  face,  or  in  falling.  The  burning  seems  hardly  such  as 
would  be  done  at  ceremonial  cremation,  more  as  though  the  body  lay  face 
downward  while  the  hut  or  the  surrounding  tules  were  set  on  fire. 

The  arrow  must  have  been  discharged  at  short  range,  hitting  the  victim 
either  while  he  lay  on  the  ground  or  came  forward  with  his  head  down  in 
a shielded  position. 

Fig.  2. — Eeeonstruction  of  course  of  arrow. 

[94] 


[pope]  plate  16 


' v'"-  ■ ''  ',  ' ' '■'.: 


PLATE  17 

ARROW  SHOT  THROUGH  A COAT  OF  MAIL 

The  penetration  of  an  English  bodkin  pointed  arrow  (pi.  13,  fig.  7), 
shot  at  chain  mail  armor.  A 75-pound  bow  was  used  at  a distance  of 
7 yards.  The  point  has  pierced  one  side,  gone  through  a half-inch  pine 
board,  and  struck  against  the  opposite  side  of  the  jacket. 


[96] 


[pope]  plate  17 


PLATE  18 

PENETRATION  OP  ARROWS 

Fig.  1. — The  effect  of  shooting  a broadhead  arrow  (pi.  13,  fig.  14),  at 
a deer  65  yards  distant.  A 68-pound  bow  was  used. 

Fig.  2. — Penetration  of  a redwood  board  1 inch  thick  by  a blunt  arrow 
(pi.  13,  fig.  2),  shot  from  a 75-pound  bow  at  20  yards. 


[98] 


[pope]  plate  18 


PLATE  19 


PENETRATION  OP  ARROWS 

Penetration  of  arrows  sliot  from  a 75-pound  bow  at  a grizzly  bear 
40  yards  distant.  The  story  is  told  in  “Forest  and  Stream,”  October, 
1920. 


[POPE]  PLATE  19 


i’ 


PLATE  20 

PENETRATION  OF  OBSIDIAN  IN  BONE 

Fig.  1. — Human  femur  with  imbedded  obsidian  arrowhead  which  has 
been  snapped  across  just  below  the  surface  of  the  bone.  Found  in  1907 
in  the  Ellis  Landing  shellmound  on  San  Francisco  bay.  12-2340. 

Fig.  2. — Eadiograph  of  same. 

Fig.  3. — Eadiograph  showing  the  flat  side  of  the  head.  The  point  is 
driven  more  than  halfway  through  the  bone. 


[102] 


[pope]  plate  20 


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